Characteristics of home-based child care serving children aged 0 to 5 years in Canada, 2021 to 2022

Child care provided in home-based settings by non-relatives remains a prominent model of care in Canada. Following commitments of over $27.2 billion in Budget 2021, the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement was formed, encompassing collaborations between the federal government, provinces and territories, and Indigenous groups to develop an affordable, inclusive, flexible and high-quality system of child care. This report examines characteristics of licensed and unlicensed home-based child care providing care to children aged 0 to 5 years in Canada at the outset of this agreement. To inform a workforce strategy, this report further examines the reasons unlicensed providers gave for not obtaining a licence and the factors associated with being a licensed home-based child care provider. This report uses data from the 2022 Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services, the first national survey of child care services in Canada. The results suggest an estimated 14,435 licensed and 14,022 unlicensed child care homes were providing care to children aged 0 to 5 in Canada in April 2022. A descriptive overview of home-based child care settings included information on licensing status, child enrolment and staffing, services provided, and providers’ demographic characteristics and educational background. Compared to unlicensed homes, licensed homes were more likely to provide full-time care and less likely to provide part time or flexible care options, were more likely to have employees and more likely to have providers with formal training in early childhood education. The reasons unlicensed home-based providers selected for not obtaining a licence varied considerably by province. Overall, about two-thirds agreed that they saw no benefit in obtaining a licence or considered it unnecessary given their intended duration of providing care. Multivariate analyses found that provider characteristics independently associated with being licensed included an intention to continue providing care in the home in three years, higher educational attainment, and province or territory of residence.