'To protect our children': Alberta unveils new bill aimed at child-care sector
The Alberta government is looking to increase oversight of the child-care sector.
The province tabled the Early Learning and Child Care Amendment Act, 2024 – Bill 25 – on Wednesday.
The bill makes changes to the Public Health Act and Safety Codes Act.
The legislation is guided by recommendations made by a child-care and food-safety review panel established after hundreds of children fell ill last September's during an outbreak of E.coli at Calgary daycares
"We found that Alberta's legislation needed to be strengthened and streamlined to ensure that every child-care operator understands the regulations that apply to them," said Dr. Lynn McMullen, a retired University of Alberta professor.
McMullen sat on the review panel. She believes the most significant change is the clarification of current language around food safety.
"(Existing legislation) wasn't clear on what the expectations were for operators," McMullen said. "One of the recommendations was that (it) gets cleaned up so it's clear to operators what they are responsible for and what they need to do to protect our children."
The new legislation, McMullen explained, will require all facility-based licence holders to follow applicable zoning health and safety regulations – such as measuring and recording food temperature.
"As an expert in food safety, I can't stress enough how important it is to implement this recommendation from the panel," she added.
Other changes in Bill 25 include:
- Allow the province to refuse or revoke a child-care provider's licence;
- Allow the province to close a child-care program or just a part of a program;
- Create an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 per infraction;
- Create an online platform to curate information on child-care providers, including day homes and unlicensed child-care facilities; and
- Create rules to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in child-care spaces with adult supervision.
Peter Guthrie, minister of infrastructure, introduced Bill 25 on behalf of Matt Jones, minister of jobs, economy and trade.
Guthrie said the bill aims to make the child-care sector more transparent and to punish "the small number of bad actors."
The new online tool will allow parents to check the certification status, previous non-compliances and stop orders for a provider. It and other changes are expected to come into effect in the spring, while administrative penalties will come into force the following fall.
"To ensure that these changes do not risk a provider's right to fair treatment, they will still have access to an appeals process, just as they do now," Guthrie said.
"No child-care operation is perfect, but perfection is not what the legislation is looking for," said child care director Bernice Taylor. "This legislation is meant to target our system's bad actors, the ones with chronic non-compliance issues – the ones who give child-care providers a bad name and break down the trust in the child-care system as a whole."
Guthrie did not clarify if unlicensed providers would have to follow the same rules as licenced, but that they would be included in the online information platform and would be eligible for administrative penalties.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING UnitedHealthcare CEO shot in Manhattan, gunman flees on e-bike, officials say
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed Wednesday morning in what investigators suspect was a targeted shooting outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference.
2 Quebec men top BOLO program's latest Top 25 list of Canada's most wanted
Two men believed to be central figures in Quebec’s violent and ongoing drug conflict topped the Bolo Program's latest Top 25 list of Canada's Most Wanted fugitives.
Air Canada to bar carry-on bags for lowest-fare customers
Air Canada says it will bar carry-on bags and impose a seat selection fee for its lowest-fare customers.
Warm, wet winter expected in much of Canada, say forecasters
Federal forecasters expect a warmer-than-normal start to winter in most of Canada, with more precipitation than usual in parts of the country.
Sweden and Finland want citizens to be prepared for war. Should Canada do the same?
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches its third year, nearby Nordic countries like Sweden and Finland are preparing their citizens to survive during a military conflict. Should Canada be doing the same?
$80-million jackpot: 2 winning tickets sold in Canada
There are two winners of the $80 million Lotto Max jackpot, Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) has announced. The prize will be split between two tickets sold in Quebec and Alberta, respectively.
Watch a woman try to grab a soldier's gun amid turmoil in South Korea
Dramatic video shows a woman grappling with an armed soldier outside the South Korean parliament in Seoul on Wednesday.
Poilievre offers two hours of House time Monday for Freeland to present fall economic statement
In absence of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister confirming a date to present a fall economic statement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is offering to give up two hours of scheduled opposition time next Monday to 'tell us how much she's lost control of the nation's finances.'
Dollarama buys land for Calgary warehouse, targets 2,200 Canadian stores by 2034
A new Dollarama distribution centre and a lot more of the chain's stores are headed for Canada over the next decade.