September 29, 2005
Vancouver, British Columbia

NEWS RELEASE

Prime Minister Paul Martin and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, along with Social Development Minister Ken Dryden and Stan Hagen, British Columbia’s Minister of Children and Family Development, announced today an historic Agreement in Principle that further supports the development of quality early learning and child care (ELCC) for young children and their families in British Columbia.

“The surest measure of a forward-looking society is the effort it makes to help its youngest citizens,” said Prime Minister Martin. “This Agreement in Principle between Canada and British Columbia moves us closer to a shared vision for early learning and child care. Decades ago, it was a series of such agreements that led to the creation of Medicare in Canada—a program that now helps to define us as Canadians.”

“We want to ensure that B.C. families have access to a sustainable, flexible, and affordable early learning and child care system that will ensure B.C. children get the support they need to thrive and succeed,” said Premier Campbell. “The agreement we have signed today will help parents balance the demands of work and family, and assist child care providers with new funding opportunities. It is a critical step in achieving our goal of providing the best systems of support for British Columbians in need.”

This announcement follows the Government of Canada’s February 2005 budget commitment to invest $5 billion over five years to enhance and expand high-quality developmental early learning and child care in collaboration with provinces and territories.

As announced in previous federal-provincial-territorial meetings on ELCC, this initiative will be guided by the QUAD principles: quality, universally inclusive, accessible, and developmental. In addition, the Government of British Columbia has adopted three principles specific to British Columbia: Choice/Flexibility, Targeted Investments, and Integrated Services.

“This Agreement in Principle is another step to making sure that children in British Columbia will have the best possible start in life,” said Minister Dryden. “We are working to develop an ambitious, high-quality, developmental-based system of early learning and child care in every province and territory in this country. We have already signed agreements with six other provinces and, over the coming weeks and months, I expect that we will conclude Agreements in Principle with other provincial and territorial governments.”

Over the next five years, with financial support from the Government of Canada, British Columbia will develop an integrated early learning and child care system, with children and families benefiting from increased quality, more developmental programs, and greater early learning and child care opportunities. This initiative builds on British Columbia’s existing early learning and child care investments, and recognizes that flexibility is needed to address provincial priorities and circumstances. British Columbia will consult with stakeholders to develop and release an action plan on early learning and child care by January 2006. Canada and British Columbia will also work together to conclude a detailed multi-year funding agreement.

“This money is going to make a real and almost immediate difference to the lives of B.C.’s children and families,” said Minister Hagen. “It will allow our government, led by Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care, to expand options for affordable, safe, quality child care, and be more responsive to the needs of aboriginal and multicultural families, creating a truly ‘made-in-B.C.’ approach to early learning and child care.”

The Agreement in Principle sets out a long-term vision, principles, and goals to guide the development of regulated early learning and child care for children under six. It also outlines specific objectives that the Government of British Columbia will pursue over the next five years and how that Government will be accountable to British Columbians. Also, the governments of Canada and British Columbia will collaborate with other provinces and territories on knowledge and information that will contribute to more effective early learning and child care programming. As part of this Agreement in Principle, the Government of Canada will work with British Columbia and other interested provincial and territorial governments to develop a National Quality Framework that will guide the development of early learning and child care programming across Canada.

British Columbia will continue to report publicly on early learning and child care, so that progress is tracked.

The Government of Canada recently signed similar Early Learning and Child Care Agreements in Principle with Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Alberta. It is anticipated that similar agreements with the remaining provinces and territories will be signed in the weeks and months ahead.


The Agreement in Principle is accessible at the following site:
http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/cs/comm/sd/news/agreements_principle/index.shtml

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