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Excerpt: "The Atkinson Centre recognizes the Ontario Auditor General’s report on the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program as an urgent reminder of the need for stronger public accountability. The report highlights critical gaps in Ontario’s approach: the Ministry of Education has not defined what an affordable child care system should look like, has failed to set performance measures to track equity and access, and has no province-wide strategy to recruit and retain early childhood educators. This workforce shortage is particularly concerning, as the Auditor General estimates Ontario will need up to 10,000 additional Registered Early Childhood Educators to meet expansion targets by 2026. Despite billions in federal funding, enrolment among low-income families has dropped, significant numbers of licensed spaces remain vacant or unutilized, and families continue to face long and opaque waitlists. The report also points to an unclear expansion strategy - Ontario has not set out how many new spaces are needed or where they should be located to meet demand fairly. Compounding this, there are no system-wide performance measures to determine whether CWELCC is successfully expanding access, particularly for underserved or marginalized communities. Together, these findings make clear that federal monitoring of bilateral agreements is essential if provinces and territories are to meet the goals of Canada’s national child care plan."

Social Justice Education doctoral student Angad Kaur Khalsa hosts weekly meditation sessions every Thursday afternoon on Zoom for SJE and broader ÃÈÃÃÉçÇø students.

e-News

We are proud to celebrate the publication of Human Rights and the United Nations: Paradox and Promise edited by Dr. Abigail Bakan, Professor in the Department of Social Justice Education.

Our student orientation on September 4 was a great success!

We congratulate Dr. Diane Farmer and Dr. John Portelli on their retirements.

We are proud to share that Dr. Devon Healey, Assistant Professor in Social Justice Education, premiered her original play Rainbow on Mars this past August at Ada Slaight Hall.

We are delighted to share that Dr. Amal Madibbo, Professor in the Department of Social Justice Education, has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Contribution Award by the Canadian Sociological Association.

Welcoming new Faculty and Staff to the department.

Excerpt: "In March 2022, Ontario and Canada signed the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement. The Province was allocated $10.23 billion over five years to support its CWELCC objectives, including reducing child-care fees paid by families (parent fees) for children under age six to an average of $10 per day and increasing access to child-care spaces. This audit assessed whether the Ministry of Education’s has efficient and effective systems and procedures in place to meet the objectives of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement."

Excerpt: "The government's summary financial position, as at March 31, 2025, is a deficit of $1,149 million, which reflects an $822 million or 42 per cent year-over-year improvement in comparison to the previous year's deficit of $1,971 million. The deficit increased by $353 million relative to Budget 2024/25."