Michael Hainsworth, host of the C.D. Howe Institute podcast, speaks with Dr. Jennifer Robson of Carleton University and Ken Boessenkool of McGill University to discuss their report, Aggressive Incrementalism, Strengthening the Foundations of Canada’s Approach to Childcare.
Canada needs childcare reforms to strengthen its system and better serve women and families, Robson and Boessenkool argue, especially as Canada is seeking to enter the recovery phase of post-pandemic life. But demands for a nationalized system miss the mark, they believe. While constantly expanding the role of the federal government is the catch-all solution for some, in this instance more targeted solutions are available and indeed preferable.
Their recommendations include:
- Replacing the existing Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED) with a more generous, progressive and more frequently paid refundable tax credit;
- Redoubling provincial efforts to increase childcare spaces by increasing operating and/or capital grants for licensed providers;
- Consolidating federal dollars for childcare into a single, dedicated and permanent transfer to provinces, and focusing first on expanding the supply of licensed childcare spaces.
Building a new national system from scratch does not make sense, and yet strengthening and improving the structures already in place is necessary. Especially given the fact that, as Boessenkool states in the interview, “in the research it is pretty clear that women do bear the [higher] share of childcare costs in Canada.”
