CCL Home > Reports & Data > State of Learning in Canada
Early childhood learning and development are inextricable— without a strong foundation of physical, emotional, cognitive and social development, successful learning is less likely to follow.
Too often, debate about early childhood learning and development is polarized around issues of home care versus day care, or private versus public care.
Report resources
What is really needed is an evidence-based approach focussed on helping individuals and communities address their own unique concerns. In a world where one size does not fit all—where parents and governments require choice and response to local conditions—we need common benchmarks whereas the data is cohesive, coherent and comparable in order to assess results.
According to Willms, children (0 to 11 years old) are considered as “vulnerable” either in their cognitive (learning) domain or behavioural domain, based on the “vulnerability index” derived from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The index aims to identify children whose chances of leading healthy and productive lives are somewhat reduced unless there is a concerted and prolonged effort to intervene on their behalf. Children are classified as vulnerable in their cognitive domain if they score:
Children are classified as vulnerable in their behavioural domain if they:
The research leaves no doubt that early childhood learning and development are vital for lifelong learning and life readiness. And yet, many Canadian children are not experiencing optimal early development.
In fact, more than one in four children (29.54%) is entering Grade 1 with learning or behavioural difficulties that could affect future success in academics and life in general. Although some children are at greater risk of developmental delays, such problems affect children in all demographic groups. Thus, it is important to achieve a better understanding of the current developmental status of Canadian children, and how this status can be improved.
Toward that end, governments in Canada have been seeking new ways to monitor and report on the status of early childhood development. For example, in support of the federal-provincial-territorial agreement on early childhood development, each government reports biennially on indicators of child well-being. This is in addition to regular reporting on their investments and progress in enhancing programs and services for young children and their families.
The well-being reports are based on a collaborative federal-provincial-territorial effort to develop and report on a set of common indicators, using the best available data on children’s well-being in the areas of physical health and motor development, emotional health, social knowledge and competence, and cognitive learning and language communication. The Well-Being of Canada’s Young Children: Government of Canada Report covers the common set of indicators of child well-being at the national level as well as information on the family and community contexts in which children are growing up.
Individually, and together, these reports—which are based on findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth and key national sources of health data—contribute to a greater understanding of how Canada’s young children are doing, and the factors contributing to their well-being, across the domains of child development.
As illuminating as they are, the current data sources provide only a fragmented picture. There is significant room to expand these types of initiatives and start piecing together a richer picture of what we know about early learning across Canada.
The information on early childhood learning collected at present does not tell us everything we need to know at a pan-Canadian level. The current tools, such as the NLSCY and other data initiatives, provide a rich understanding of determinants of early childhood development, such as parental education. However, there is a need for better assessment of the “outcomes” of early childhood development, and learning in particular. Another key knowledge gap is in the area of the factors influencing the development trajectories of children with fewer opportunities, especially Aboriginal and disabled children.