Canada is moving toward expanding education to include four-year-olds. Nova Scotia, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories have strong models in place, while Quebec is phasing it in. Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan have targeted programs that are raising interest.
EXPANDING PUBLIC EDUCATION
Beginning School at Age 4
Resources
Common Concerns about Junior Kindergarten
Capacity is always a concern, especially in urban areas. Therefore, other province opted to phase it in over a couple of years to deal with capacity issues, starting in rural areas where ample space exists.
Atlantic Region ECE Initiative
Young children are waiting for early learning and child care in Atlantic Canada and across the rest of the country. This matters. As children wait, their early learning is stifled, their parents are unable to work, with the economy foregoing needed skills, now and in the future.
Provinces atlantiques : Initiative en EPE
Au Canada, dans les provinces atlantiques et le reste du pays, les jeunes enfants doivent attendre pour l’apprentissage et la garde pour la petite enfance. Et ceci a un impact.
Findings of Recent Research
In Canada, just over half of 4-year-olds are enrolled in an early learning program that is part of the public education system and known as pre-primary, pre-kindergarten or junior kindergarten.
Moving the four-year-olds into the school system frees up thousands of spaces in early learning centres, allowing those centres to focus on infants and toddlers.