February 2020
The Early Years Study, authored by the Honourable Margaret McCain and Dr. Fraser Mustard in 1999, recommended early child development and parenting centres linked to the school system and sensitive to local communities. This led to a series of reports which have resulted in meaningful policy change in Canada including:
- The first study, Reversing the Real Brain Drain, led the federal government to expandparental leave from six months to one year, as well as establishing the first integratedearly childhood education pilot program in Toronto.
- Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action was released in 2007 and led Ontario toestablish play-based full day kindergarten for four- and five-year olds.
- Early Years Study 3: Making Decisions, Taking Action was released in 2011 andintroduced a benchmarking tool, the Early Childhood Education Report, which isproduced every three years to monitor the federal and provincial governments’ policyand spending decisions.
- Early Years Study 4: Thriving Kids, Thriving Society released today, calls for an annualinvestment of $8 billion to bring Canada up to the OECD average enrolment rate forearly childhood education.
Access Early Years Study 4 HERE
