The Well-Being of Canada's Young Children - Government of Canada Report 2008
Preface
In September 2000, the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments reached an agreement to improve and expand the services and programs they provide for children under 6 years of age and their families.1 In the federal/provincial/territorial (F/P/T) Early Childhood Development (ECD) Agreement, Canada's First Ministers committed to help young children reach their potential, and to help families and the communities in which they live support their children.
Recognizing the importance of being accountable to citizens, as part of the Agreement governments committed to report regularly to Canadians on a common set of indicators of young children's well-being. These indicators provide valuable information on the physical and emotional health and early development of young children in Canada.
This report fulfills the Government of Canada's commitment to report on the well-being of Canada's young children. This is the fourth report on young children's well-being released by the Government of Canada.
This report expands on the F/P/T common set of indicators to provide a more comprehensive portrait of children from birth to 5 years of age (inclusive) in Canada. It includes additional indicators of children's physical and emotional health, safety and security, and early development, as well as an overview of the families and communities in which young Canadian children are growing up.
The data presented in this report have been taken from government sources and are for 2004/2005 unless otherwise indicated.
As part of their commitment to public reporting in the Early Childhood Development Agreement, governments also agreed to report annually to Canadians on their progress in enhancing early childhood development programs and services.
As a complement to the information in this report, the reader may wish to refer to the Federal Activities and Expenditures for Young Children database, available at www.socialunion.ca, which provides information on the progress the Government of Canada has made in enhancing federally delivered early childhood development programs and services.
In addition to fulfilling the reporting commitments of the F/P/T ECD Agreement, this report contributes to Canada's obligations to report on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Together with the Federal Activities and Expenditures for Young Children database, this report exemplifies Canada's commitment to transparent accountability and reporting related to young children.
- 1 While the Government of Quebec supports the general principles of the Early Childhood Development Agreement, it did not participate in developing this initiative because it intends to preserve its sole responsibility for social matters. However, Quebec receives its share of federal funding and the Government of Quebec is making major investments in programs and services for families and children. Click to return to reference