This is the 5th edition of the Early Childhood Education Report (ECER). Established in 2011, the report is released every three years to evaluate provincial/territorial early years services against a 15-point scale. Results are populated from detailed profiles of each province and territory. The ECER scale is organized around 5 categories with 21 benchmarks forming a common set of minimum criteria contributing to the delivery of quality programming. This report captures changes to early years services from March 2020 to March 2023. As such, it is able to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service provision, as well as the funding and requirements of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements (CWELCC) at the half-way mark.

In this edition two benchmarks have been modified to account for the pandemic and the CWELCC agreements. To see changes in this edition see Methodology.

Download Overview

Download Workforce Report

What others are saying about the ECER


Charts and Graphs

Benchmark Results

An analysis of trends across the country in early childhood education services.

Interactive map

Results at a Glance

Explore our interactive map to see a snapshot of provincial/territorial early childhood education services.

Profiles

Provincial/Territorial Profiles

Profiles for each province and territory compile information to March 31, 2023 on early childhood education and care services across five categories: Governance, Funding, Access, the Early Learning Environment and Accountability. 

ECER 2023

ECE Report 2023

View the trends across the country in early childhood education services.

Benchmarks of Quality

Early Childhood Education Benchmarks of Quality

The ECER is organized around 5 categories with 21 benchmarks forming a common set of minimum criteria contributing to the delivery of quality programming.