Child Care Expense Deduction

FAQ: WHATS WRONG WITH FOR-PROFIT CHILD CARE? Whats the position of the federal government on for-profit child care? The 2021 Budget provides $30 Billion over 5 years for the building of a Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care. (p. 101). A community-based system means publicly-planned and publicly-regulated not-for-profit and pub... lic services. The budget compares this to public health care and the public school system: Just as public school provides children with quality education in their neighbourhoods, the governments goal is to ensure that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early learning and child care no matter where they live. (p. 101). In case those statements were not clear enough, the budget states that over the next five years, the federal government will work with provinces and territories to support primarily not-for-profit sector child care providers to grow quality spaces across the country while ensuring that families in all licensed spaces benefit from more affordable child care. (p. 103) The position is not ideological; it is practical. Child care systems dominated by not-for-profit and public providers operate differently than those dominated by commercial providers. Just compare co-ordinated child care systems in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and New Zealand to wild-west markets for child care in England, Australia and the United States. Or look at the recent experience during COVID in for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario. In child care systems dominated by not-for-profit and public provision, low-income families are better served, the quality of services is higher and more reliable and the costs are lower. Notice that the federal position does not say that for-profit child care will be abolished. Only that it will not be supported to grow. Many families have their children in for-profit services that will continue to get government funding. However, going forward, the federal government insists that the growth will be ...Read More