According to the report released by Dr Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work in Vancouver., Canada’s economy is already being positively impacted by the new $10-per-day child care plan. Download the report here
Statistics highlighting the economic impacts of expanded ELCC services are compiled in the report Powering Growth: Economic Benefits from Canada’s $10-per-day Early Learning and Child Care Program (comparing 2024 outcomes to pre-pandemic levels).
Key conclusions include:
- Since 2019, the ELCC sector has generated over 50,000 net new jobs, ranking as Canada’s sixth-largest source of new employment during this period.
- Thanks to increased funding, ELCC employees are also seeing an improvement in their earnings and work hours. This year, ELCC workers will earn over $8 billion in total, which will increase consumer spending across the economy.
- Through two channels—increased full-time employment and better labor force participation—the supply of female labor has grown in tandem with the expansion of ELCC services. The total number of female core-age (25–54) workers has increased by 175,000 full-time equivalents as a result of this.
- Since 2019, Canada’s national GDP has increased by $32 billion (more than 1%) due to a combination of increased ELCC activity, expanded spin-off work (in upstream supply chains and downstream consumer industries), and improved employment of women.
- Canada avoided going into a technical recession in the second half of 2023 thanks to the new GDP that was aided both directly and indirectly by the expansion of ELCC services.
According to Stanford: “Canada’s $10-per-day ELCC program is still in its early days, but it is already having a noticeable and positive impact on Canada’s macroeconomy,”
“These benefits will get larger in future years as the program continues to roll out.”
He added: “Canadians often assume the main drivers of economic growth are industries like resources and manufacturing. This evidence shows, however, that ambitious expansion of ELCC services has in fact been a leading light of Canada’s economic performance since the pandemic,”
The report was commissioned by Child Care Now, Canada’s national child care advocacy association. To arrange further comment by Dr. Jim Stanford, please contact info@centreforfuturework.ca or 647-544-2150.
