Summary

In 2017 the Government of Canada set aside up $1.7 billion over 10 years to support the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework. Their goal was to strengthen culturally appropriate early learning and child care programs for Indigenous children and families. Over $22 million of the funding was provided to Alberta from 2018 to 2020.

As part of this initiative, The Alberta First Nations Information Governance Centre, a First-Nations-owned non-profit, contracted Cora Voyageur Social Research Ltd. to assess the state of Indigenous early learning and child care in Alberta. The Report they produced summarizes what they learned through talking to communities from Treaties Six, Seven, and Eight, reviewing literature, and conducting an environmental scan. It includes a brief assessment of the impact of core child care initiatives undertaken for Indigenous children in Alberta. It also identifies best practices, lessons learned, benefits, and challenges for Indigenous child care programs, children, families, communities, and the workforce.   

Practice & Policy Implications:

• The report describes actionable opportunities to strengthen Indigenous child care programs.
• The report outlines the resources required to address the existing challenges related to providing responsive, high quality child care programs for Indigenous children.
• The report can be used to guide decision making about future child care initiatives for Indigenous children in Alberta.

Image source: https://www.afnigc.ca/main/includes/media/pdf/digital%20reports/IELCC%20Environmental%20Scan%20FINAL.pdf