Report: Newcomers and the Childcare Crisis

A report by the Jimmy Pratt Foundation and the Multicultural Women’s Organization of NL.

Summary:

72% of young children in Newfoundland and Labrador live in childcare deserts, defined as a postal code where there are more than three children per licensed childcare space.[1] These challenges are magnified for newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador, who face additional barriers as they navigate the childcare system. The stakes of missing out on childcare are high for newcomer children and their parents – more than 1 in 3 immigrant children in Newfoundland and Labrador live in poverty.[2] As the provincial government expands the Early Learning and Child Care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, it must do so with consideration for the experiences of immigrant families. This is an issue of migrant justice, gender equality, anti-racism, and children’s rights. This paper focuses on the experience of newcomer families looking for childcare in St. John’s, NL.

[1] David Macdonald and Martha Friendly, “Not Done Yet: $10-a-Day Child Care Requires Addressing Canada’s Child Care Deserts” (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, May 2023), 4.

[2] Statistics Canada, “Table 98-10-0314-01 Individual Low-Income Status by Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration: Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations with Parts,” October 26, 2022, https://doi.org/10.25318/9810031401-eng.