HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Early Learning and Child Care Act, S.B.C. 2021, c. 22, is amended by adding the following definition:

"early childhood educator" means a registrant as defined in the Early Childhood Educators Act; .

2 The following section is added:

Purposes of Act

1.1 The purposes of this Act are to

(a) recognize the right of all children and families in British Columbia to, on a voluntary basis, access quality, affordable and culturally safe early learning and child care services,

(b) recognize that all children and families in British Columbia, in their diversity and with their diverse abilities and social and economic backgrounds, have the right to be supported, where they belong, with high-quality early learning and child care service opportunities,

(c) affirm the commitment of government to developing a universal access early learning and child care system and to supporting the early learning and child care system once universal access is achieved,

(d) promote the development, educational growth and well-being of children through equitable and high-quality early learning and child care services,

(e) foster the systemic development of sustainable early learning and child care services,

(f) ensure the development of a system of supports for the endeavours of child care providers to achieve high-quality early learning and child care services and equity of access to those services across the province,

(g) align early learning and child care services in British Columbia with the British Columbia Early Learning Framework and the Canada Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework,

(h) provide a mandate in legislation for government to collaborate with school authorities in their efforts to govern, plan, develop, manage, coordinate and deliver provincially funded licensed child care, and

(i) recognize, support and respect early childhood educators in alignment with the Early Childhood Educators Act.

3 The following section is added to Division 1 of Part 2:

Child care system

2.1 The government must establish, and review and revise annually, a plan for improving the child care system, including, without limitation, in relation to services provided by

(a) the Ministry of Children and Family Development,

(b) the Ministry of Education and Child Care, and

(c) the Ministry of Health.

4 Section 3 (2) (b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) to ensure the accessibility, quality or affordability of child care services to meet the developmental and learning needs of all children with their diverse abilities and social and economic backgrounds; .

5 The following section is added to Division 1 of Part 2:

Child care fees and wage grid

3.1 (1) The minister may enter into a written agreement for the purposes of subsection (3) with a child care provider.

(2) Subject to the regulations, the minister may specify the terms and conditions to be included in an agreement under subsection (1).

(3) The maximum fee that a child care provider who enters into an agreement under subsection (1) may require for child care is the basic child care fee as specified in the agreement, to a maximum fee of $10 per day for any 13-hour period per child.

(4) A child care provider who enters into an agreement under subsection (1) must pay the early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals employed by the child care provider in accordance with the wage grid described in section 4.2.

6 The following Divisions are added to Part 2:

Division 1.1 – Access to Early-Years and School-Age Care

New child care spaces and access to school-age care

4.1 (1) In this section:

"early-years care" means, subject to section 2, the care and supervision of children under the age of 5 years;

"school administrator" means any of the following within the meaning of the School Act:

(a) a principal;

(b) a vice principal;

(c) a director of instruction;

(d) a francophone principal;

(e) a francophone vice principal;

(f) a francophone director of instruction;

"school age", in relation to a child for a school year, means that the child will have reached age 5 on or before December 31 of the school year;

"school authority" means a board or francophone education authority, as defined in section 1 (1) of the School Act;

"school facility" means a facility associated with a school or francophone school, as defined in section 1 (1) of the School Act;

"school year" means the period commencing on July 1 and ending on the following June 30;

"school-age care" means, subject to section 2, the care and supervision of school-age children before or after school hours or on a day of school closure;

"school-age care program" means a child care program, as defined in section 1 (1) of the School Act, for the provision of school-age care;

"space", in relation to early-years care or school-age care, means a unit of capacity representing one child to whom child care services may be provided at one time at a licensed child care facility.

(2) The minister must establish, in accordance with this section, a child care spaces capital program and planning process for the purpose of meeting the demand for early-years care and school-age care.

(3) The minister must, in collaboration with school authorities and school administrators, ensure that access to school-age care is provided at each school facility at which a person is licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act to provide school-age care, by means of

(a) dedicated school-age care spaces for children at the children's school facilities, or

(b) shared school-age care spaces among neighbouring school facilities, with transportation support when needed.

(4) The minister must

(a) ensure, on or before September 1, 2026, universal access to school-age care programs, and

(b) continue to provide school-age care programs once universal access is achieved.

Division 1.2 – Recruitment and Retention of Early Learning and Child Care Professionals

Educator and other professional recruitment and retention

4.2 The minister must, in consultation with early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals, take measures to support the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals, including, without limitation, by doing the following:

(a) on or before April 1, 2025, developing a wage grid for fair and competitive wages for early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals that

(i) includes pension benefits and other employment benefits that equal or exceed benefits provided for comparable positions in British Columbia, and

(ii) reflects the education, qualifications, experience and years of employment of the early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals;

(b) reviewing the wage grid annually and adjusting the wage grid as appropriate to keep pace with inflation and to close the gender wage gap;

(c) continuing to develop and update strategies for the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals;

(d) aligning the implementation of this Act with the implementation of the Early Childhood Educators Act.

Division 1.3 – Distinctions-Based and Belonging-Based Early Learning and Child Care Services

Quality in early learning and child care services

4.3 The minister must take measures to support early learning and child care services based on the diverse needs of children and families, including, without limitation, by doing the following:

(a) collaborating with Indigenous peoples to facilitate the design and delivery of Indigenous-led early learning and child care services for Indigenous children;

(b) on or before April 1, 2025, developing needs-based programs and services for early learning and child care services for children with diverse needs, backgrounds and abilities, with support to ensure that the children may access early learning and child care services where they belong;

(c) reviewing and revising, as appropriate, the needs-based programs and services referred to in paragraph (b).

7 Section 5 is amended

(a) in subsection (3) by striking out "minister" and substituting "council",

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(3.1) The council must develop, subject to the approval of the minister, terms of reference for the council, including, without limitation, respecting the following:

(a) the purpose and objectives of the council;

(b) the membership of the council;

(c) the accountability of the council;

(d) staff support;

(e) the budget and expenses of the council;

(f) the term length and renewal criteria for members of the council;

(g) the standards of conduct for council members, including, without limitation, standards respecting attendance, confidentiality and conflicts of interest;

(h) other matters determined by the council. ,

(c) by repealing subsection (4) and substituting the following:

(4) The minister must set the term of office of a member of the council

(a) in accordance with the terms ofreference, and

(b) in consultation with council members. ,

(d) by repealing subsection (6) and substituting the following:

(6) The council may make recommendations to the minister about the following matters:

(a) provincial child care policy;

(b) establishing and maintaining the public child care system in British Columbia;

(c) the accessibility, quality and affordability of child care;

(d) cultural safety and belonging, especially for Indigenous children and families;

(e) belonging-based child care that supports all children with diverse social and economic backgrounds and abilities;

(f) child care grants and child care benefits;

(g) the role of child care in the social, cultural, educational, emotional, cognitive and physical development of children;

(h) the staffing of child care facilities and other resources for child care;

(i) any other matter related to child care. , and

(e) by adding the following subsection:

(7) The council may publish reports respecting its recommendations to the minister under subsection (6).

8 Section 6 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) implement the strategies referred to in section 4.2 (c), ,

(b) in subsection (1) (c) by adding ", (a.1)" after "paragraphs (a)", and

(c) by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) In a report prepared under subsection (1), the minister must include data respecting the following in relation to early learning and child care services:

(a) the affordability of services, including, without limitation, the reduction of child care fees;

(b) the accessibility of services, including, without limitation, the number of child care spaces funded by the government;

(c) the quality of services, including, without limitation,

(i) the funding provided by the government in relation to early childhood educator wages, and

(ii) updates to the wage grid established under section 4.2 (a);

(d) the design and delivery of Indigenous-led and distinctions-based services;

(e) the number of children with diverse extra support needs and the children's access to belonging-based child care.

9 Section 21 (2) (c) is amended by adding "and agreements under section 3.1 (1)" after "grant agreements".

Commencement

10 This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.

Explanatory Notes

CLAUSE 1: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 1] adds a definition of "early childhood educator".

CLAUSE 2: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 1.1] sets out the purposes of the Act.

CLAUSE 3: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 2.1] adds a requirement for the government to provide an annual plan for improving the child care system.

CLAUSE 4: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section  3] clarifies the specified purposes for which the minister may enter into a written agreement.

CLAUSE 5: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, sections 3.1 and 4.1]

• provides for agreements between the minister and child care providers;
• provides for maximum child care fees, and wage grid requirements, for a child care provider who enters into an agreement;
• provides requirements for the minister respecting meeting the demand for early-years care and school-age care and respecting access to school-age care programs.

CLAUSE 6: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, Divisions 1.1 to 1.3 of Part 2] requires the government to take measures to support

• the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators and other early learning and child care professionals, and
• early learning and child care services based on the diverse needs of children and families.

CLAUSE 7: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 5]

• provides for the members of the Provincial Child Care Council to designate the chair and co-chairs of the council;
• authorizes the council to develop terms of reference for the council, subject to the minister's approval;
• provides for the minister to set a member's term of office as specified;
• amends the specified matters for which the council may make recommendations to the minister;
• authorizes the council to publish reports of its recommendations.

CLAUSE 8: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 6]

• requires the minister to include in the annual report the actions taken to implement recruitment and retention strategies;
• amends a reference to a provision consequential to amendments made by this Bill to the Act;
• specifies data that must be included in the annual report.

CLAUSE 9: [Early Learning and Child Care Act, section 21] authorizes regulations to be made between the minister and child care providers respecting child care fee and wage agreements