Bill C-35 creates the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act. It records a federal vision for a Canada-wide system, sets guiding principles (affordability, accessibility, inclusion, quality), commits the federal government to long-term funding, requires that funding flow primarily through agreements with provinces and Indigenous governing bodies, and establishes a National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care.
The Act matters because it translates the federal government's policy goals into statutory commitments and structures without prescribing dollar amounts or mandatory national standards. It formalizes priority areas (public and not-for-profit providers, Indigenous-led services, workforce supports and official-language obligations) and creates reporting and advisory mechanisms that will shape future program design and intergovernmental negotiations.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Act sets principles to guide federal investments, commits to maintaining long-term funding delivered primarily through agreements with provinces and Indigenous governing bodies, and establishes a National Advisory Council to advise the Minister and inform annual public reporting.
Who It Affects
Provincial governments and Indigenous governing bodies that negotiate funding agreements, public and not-for-profit child care providers, the early childhood education workforce, official-language minority communities, and federal officials who will manage the Council and report to Parliament.
Why It Matters
It creates a statutory baseline for federal involvement in child care while preserving provincial and Indigenous roles, signaling federal priorities and accountability mechanisms that will shape how funding and standards are negotiated and implemented.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Act opens by declaring a federal vision: support for a Canada-wide, community-based early learning and child care system that is affordable, inclusive and high quality. It explicitly ties that vision to economic participation, gender equality and international obligations, and states that federal work will proceed in collaboration with provinces and Indigenous peoples.
Rather than setting national regulatory standards or a federal funding schedule in the text, the Act frames federal action through principles. Federal investments must aim to expand access to high-quality programs—with emphasis on public and not-for-profit providers—ensure affordability across income levels, support inclusiveness (including children with disabilities and linguistic minorities), and promote workforce recruitment and retention.
For Indigenous early learning and child care, investments must follow the separate Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework.The Act commits the government to long-term funding and stipulates that funding will be provided primarily through agreements with provincial governments and Indigenous governing bodies or other Indigenous entities. It also requires that provincial agreements be guided by Official Languages Act commitments.
The practical effect is that the federal role is structured as a funding partner and policy influencer rather than as a direct regulator of provincial or Indigenous programs.On governance and accountability, the Act creates the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care (NAC). The Council will be an advisory body of 10–18 members (including the Deputy Minister of the responsible department as an ex officio member), appointed by the Governor in Council.
The Council must consult broadly, advise the Minister on programs, funding and activities, and meet at least four times a year. The Minister must prepare an annual report summarizing federal investments, progress on availability/quality/affordability/accessibility/inclusiveness, and the Council’s advice, and must table that report in both Houses of Parliament.Several implementation details are left to secondary processes: the Act permits the Governor in Council to designate the Minister, delays the coming into force of the Council provisions to a later order, and does not specify funding levels, timelines, compliance conditions for agreements, or dispute-resolution mechanisms between orders of government.
Those gaps mean the Act provides a durable framework and named priorities but relies on negotiated agreements and administrative instruments for execution.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Act commits the federal government to 'maintaining long-term funding' for early learning and child care but does not specify amounts, timelines or indexed entitlements.
Federal funding is to be provided primarily through agreements with provincial governments and Indigenous governing bodies or other Indigenous entities representing a group and its members.
The Act requires federal investments to be guided by principles emphasizing accessible, affordable, inclusive and high-quality programs, and explicitly prioritizes public and not-for-profit child care providers and workforce recruitment and retention.
It establishes a National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care (10–18 members) with the Deputy Minister as an ex officio member; the Council must consult broadly and meet at least four times per fiscal year.
The Minister must prepare and table an annual report summarizing federal investments, progress on quality/availability/affordability/accessibility/inclusiveness, and the Council’s advice; sections creating the Council come into force by order of the Governor in Council.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title, definitions, purpose and federal declaration of objectives
Sections 1–6 set the Act’s purpose and frame: a federal vision for a Canada-wide early learning and child care system and an explicit recognition of Indigenous rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The definitions (for example, Indigenous governing body and Minister) and the declaration clauses stake out policy goals—affordability, inclusion and quality—against which future agreements and programs should be judged, but they do not impose operational requirements on provinces or Indigenous governments.
Guiding principles for federal investments
Section 7 lists the substantive principles that must guide federal investments: accessibility, affordability, inclusiveness (including children with disabilities and linguistic minorities), support for public and not-for-profit providers, and a focus on workforce recruitment and retention. For Indigenous programs, investments must also follow the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework. These principles function as policy criteria the federal government will use when negotiating agreements and designing programs, but the section does not convert them into enforceable, uniform standards.
Commitment to long-term funding and route of delivery
Section 8 commits the Government of Canada to maintaining long-term funding and specifies that funding is to be provided primarily through agreements with provinces and Indigenous governing bodies or qualifying Indigenous entities. That creates a transfer-based model: the federal role is financial and collaborative. The section also ties provincial agreements to Official Languages Act commitments where applicable, meaning language obligations become part of negotiation parameters rather than new standalone federal mandates.
National Advisory Council: composition, functions and reporting
These sections create the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care with 10–18 members, require the Deputy Minister to sit ex officio, and authorize Governor in Council appointments for other members (terms up to three years). The Council’s functions are advisory—provide advice, consult stakeholders and undertake minister-specified activities—and it must meet at least quarterly. The Minister must produce an annual report summarizing federal investments, progress across multiple dimensions (quality, availability, affordability, accessibility, inclusiveness) and the Council's advice, then table it in both Houses. Practically, the Council is a structured conduit for stakeholder input and a public accountability instrument rather than a decision-making board.
Coming into force for Council provisions
Section 17 provides that sections establishing the Council (9–15) come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. That staging allows the government to delay appointing the Council and completing administrative set‑up until it determines the appropriate timing, which can affect when advisory and oversight functions actually begin to operate.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Families with young children: The Act’s guiding principles and funding commitment are designed to expand affordable and accessible child care options, which should lower cost barriers and increase supply where agreements are implemented.
- Indigenous communities and governing bodies: The Act requires that funding agreements for Indigenous early learning and child care be guided by the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework and recognizes Indigenous leadership and culturally appropriate programs.
- Public and not-for-profit child care providers: The Act explicitly prioritizes support for public and not‑for‑profit providers, signaling federal preference that may direct funds and program design toward these providers over for‑profit operators.
- Early childhood education workforce: By naming recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce as a guiding principle, the Act creates a policy rationale for targeted workforce investments such as wages, training and professional supports.
- Official-language minority communities: Provincial agreements must be guided by Official Languages Act commitments, which strengthens the case for funding and program designs that preserve and expand Francophone and Anglophone minority services.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal government (public funds): The federal treasury bears the direct fiscal cost of the long-term funding commitment; the Act creates a durable political and budgetary expectation without specifying the fiscal path.
- Provincial governments: Provinces must negotiate agreements and may need to align existing programs and standards with federal principles, potentially reallocating provincial resources or changing program rules.
- For‑profit child care operators: With a statutory preference for public and not‑for‑profit providers, for‑profit providers may face reduced access to publicly provided funding or competitive pressure in markets reoriented by funded not‑for‑profit expansion.
- Federal departments and officials: Setting up, staffing and servicing the National Advisory Council and producing the mandated annual reporting will impose administrative burdens and require departmental resources.
- Small providers and remote communities: Meeting the Act’s quality, inclusiveness and workforce expectations could create compliance or program redesign costs for small operators, especially in rural and remote areas where workforce and infrastructure gaps are largest.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The Act’s central dilemma is between creating a credible national approach to affordable, high‑quality child care and respecting provincial jurisdiction and Indigenous self-determination: federal funding and principles aim to drive nationwide equity and standards, but by leaving implementation, timelines and detailed conditions to negotiated agreements the Act preserves subnational autonomy—an outcome that advances collaboration but risks uneven implementation, diluted standards, and uncertainty about what 'long‑term funding' will actually deliver.
The Act establishes a clear federal policy baseline but leaves crucial operational details to negotiation and administrative action. The funding pledge is substantive politically but ambiguous legally: 'maintaining long-term funding' creates expectations without a statutory funding formula, floor, or indexed mechanism, so outcomes will depend on subsequent agreements and budgetary choices.
That approach preserves flexibility but shifts the decisive power to bilateral and multilateral negotiations.
The Act attempts to balance national goals with respect for provincial jurisdiction and Indigenous self-determination by channeling funds through agreements and by recognizing Indigenous governing bodies and FPIC-related principles. However, it provides little procedural guidance on how free, prior and informed consent will be obtained or operationalized in funding negotiations.
Similarly, the statutory preference for public and not‑for‑profit providers and the Official Languages Act linkage will steer negotiations but could provoke contestation over eligibility criteria, transitional arrangements for existing providers, and market impacts.
Accountability mechanisms are advisory and informational—the National Advisory Council is purely consultative and the annual report is descriptive. The Act therefore relies on public transparency and political pressure rather than enforceable legal remedies to ensure that principles translate into outcomes.
Finally, staging the Council’s coming into force by order introduces implementation uncertainty: advisory capacity and formal reporting may not be available immediately, affecting early program design and oversight.
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