Canada’s child care system is growing and changing rapidly, but what do the numbers tell us about the sector’s workforce, supply and services?
In three recent blog posts, child care economist Gordon Cleveland takes a closer look at newly available data on early learning and child care in Canada. Drawing primarily on Statistics Canada data, the posts use charts and statistics to explore the size of the child care workforce, the qualifications of educators, wages and vacancies, and the types of child care services available across the country.
How Many Workers in Child Care Centres and How Much Education Do They Have?
Using data from the 2024 Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services (CSPCCS), Cleveland examines the size and educational background of Canada’s centre-based child care workforce.
The survey estimates that approximately 187,000 employees work in or for child care centres across Canada, with most working full-time. Nearly 130,000 are non-supervisory program staff who provide direct care and education to children, and close to two-thirds have an ECE college certificate, diploma or another post-secondary qualification.
The post also raises important questions about the CSPCCS data. Cleveland compares its estimates with data collected by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit and provincial governments and argues that the survey may undercount both child care centres and enrolment. This means its workforce estimates may also understate the actual size of the sector.
Read the full post: How Many Workers in Child Care Centres and How Much Education Do They Have?
Key Features of Early Learning and Child Care Supply
How large is early learning and child care as an economic sector, and what kinds of services are available to families?
Cleveland highlights recent Statistics Canada estimates that put the annual value of early learning and child care services, including child care and kindergarten, at approximately $23 billion based on 2022 data.
The post then uses the 2024 CSPCCS to look at how care is delivered. Although Canada has thousands of centre-based and home-based providers, centres account for 83% of children in child care. The data also show differences in the services these settings provide. For example, 75% of child care centres report accommodations or supports for children with long-term conditions or disabilities, compared with 33% of licensed or regulated home-based providers and 15% of unlicensed home-based providers.
Cleveland also looks at the availability of non-standard-hours care, including evening, overnight and weekend care, and compares the supply of these services with parents’ reported preferences.
Read the full post: Key Features of Early Learning and Child Care Supply
Canada’s Child Care Workforce – What’s Happening?
Taking a longer-term view, Cleveland uses Statistics Canada employment, earnings and job-vacancy data to examine how Canada’s child care workforce has changed over more than two decades.
One of the most striking trends is workforce growth. The number of workers in the child day-care services industry tripled between 2001 and 2025. After more than 20,000 workers left the sector during the pandemic, employment increased from approximately 128,000 workers in 2020 to more than 200,000 in 2025.
The charts also provide context on wages and staffing pressures. Average weekly earnings reached $891.17 in 2025, while job vacancies for early childhood educators and assistants, which peaked at nearly 13,000 in 2022, have since declined to approximately 7,000–8,000.
Importantly, Cleveland explains why fewer reported vacancies do not necessarily mean that staffing shortages have been resolved. A centre may need additional staff but not have the financial capacity to hire them, meaning the need would not necessarily appear as a formal job vacancy.
Read the full post: Canada’s Child Care Workforce – What’s Happening?
Looking at the Bigger Picture
Together, these three posts provide a useful statistical snapshot of Canadian child care at a critical point in the sector’s expansion.
The data show substantial growth in the workforce and the economic importance of early learning and child care. At the same time, they highlight continuing questions about educator qualifications, wages, staffing capacity, service availability and even the quality of the data being used to measure the sector.
As governments continue to expand child care under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system, good data will be essential for understanding where progress is being made, where gaps remain and what is needed to build a sustainable child care system.
Explore more analysis from Gordon Cleveland at Childcarepolicy.net.