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There is broad recognition in Canada that offering both early childhood education to strengthen healthy development for all children and child care to support mothers' workforce participation is in the public interest. Noting that Canada does not currently provide adequate early childhood care and education, this paper examines federal/provincial jurisdictional obstacles to a national child care strategy, especially those that arose in the 1990s. The paper first examines how a national child care program has been envisioned over the years, and clarifies the proposed roles and responsibilities of the various levels of government. This part examines three failed attempts to secure a national child care strategy in the context of the shifting federalism between 1984 and 1995. The paper also analyzes child care within the concept of the social union that began to be debated as the federal role in social programs waned in the 1990s. Finally, the Social Union Framework Agreement of February 1999 and its possibilities for a national child care program are appraised. The paper maintains that the Agreement's principles and state objectives not only create a new imperative for a national child care strategy but also provide new opportunities for implementation. The paper also argues that federal leadership is necessary for any national child care strategy's success, and proposes that an effective national strategy be used as a benchmark from which to evaluate nation-shaping political arrangements such as the Social Union Framework Agreement. Appended is a list of the presentations from the conference at which this paper was originally presented. (Contains 63 references.) (KB)

According to these authors, Canada is in need of a new science policy and strategy. The current direction of the federal government is threatening to impede scientific progress and compromise the integrity and independence of public science. This is reflected in the government's waning commitment to funding basic research; its attempts to steer funding toward politically targeted priority areas or to projects with ostensibly foreseeable commercial outcomes; the muzzling of public scientists; and deep cuts to government scientific agencies, programs, and libraries. The Canadian government needs to pursue a different science strategy that puts the public interest first and builds upon the proven strengths of government and higher education-based research. The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) recommends that the government build a new approach based on the following priorities: (1) Renew investments in basic research guided by priorities set by the scientific community; (2) Implement measures to protect the integrity and independence of university and college research including adopting safeguards to prevent the politicization of research; and (3) Increase support for government science and scientists. Government departments and agencies, such as Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Health Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Statistics Canada, and the National Research Council have a vital role to play in confronting science challenges, but can only do so when they are adequately funded and free to pursue their work.

Homelessness has emerged on the public agenda of economically advanced nations but not all such issues become recognized as "legitimate" social problems. National politicians and policymakers have an interest in defining the problem narrowly in order to avoid response and implied criticism of existing policies and institutions. Local officials and social agencies prefer a broader definition in order to obtain resources for policy and program implementation. This paper examines the progress of homelessness as a social issue in Canada. Chapter 1, "The Politics of Defining a 'New' Social Problem," discusses how politics, not the "objective reality" of homelessness, determines its status on the public agenda. Chapter 2, "Two National Governments: The U.S. and Canada," compares the debate over the definition of homelessness in the two countries, and demonstrates the extent to which the governments are attempting to narrow that definition. Chapter 3, "Local Initiatives: Three Examples from Toronto," reviews the following recent studies by local government and social agencies in Toronto (Ontario): (1) Metro Toronto's Study of the Homeless; (2) The Social Planning Council of Metro Toronto; and (3) The Single Displaced Persons Project. Chapter 4, "The Future of Homelessness as a Social Problem," discusses the following common themes in the definition of homelessness: (1) national scope; (2) long-term duration; (3) complex, multidimensional nature; and (4) the need for political commitment. A list of 43 references is included. (FMW)

Recommendations of a 1980 symposium on English as a second language (ESL) programs for Southeast Asian adult refugees and immigrants in Canada are discussed, along with six principles toward a Canadian policy for providing ESL training to this population. Ten major points of the 53 recommendations of a position papers of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESL) Canada are presented, along with a brief introduction to TESL Canada and background information to the TESL Canada position paper. It is recommended that language training be recognized as the key factor in immigrant integration and should be made explicit through new federal language-training policy that integrates social and employment rationales. A two-stage post-arrival model is also advocated that would involve a full-time, 3-month (300-hour) reception program combining survival English with native-language orientation services, as well as occupational assessment and career counseling. It is recommended that the new Canadian language-training policy should adhere to six basic principles set out by TESL Canada: accessibility to ESL training, flexibility and sufficiency, coordination, support for settlement services, Canadian content in the ESL Program, and the key role of the ESL profession. Appendices include: a 1981-1982 TESL Canada Directory, a list of recommendations from the 1981 Greater Toronto Southeast Asian Refugee Task Force Report, a summary of recommendations to the federal government, and a bibliography. (SW)

This description and discussion of literacy activities and issues in Canada begins with an attempt to draw together various aspects of the historical developments on literacy and current definitions and attempts at measurement. Literacy's link with adult basic education is also studied. Elements of the global situation are highlighted, and some developments in the industrialized world are examined more closely, using Great Britain, Australia, and the United States especially as case study examples. The balance of the paper is devoted to the Canadian situation. It begins by giving the census data on educational attainment, proceeds with a description of various responses to the adult literacy issue by the federal and provincial governments as well as by a variety of other organizations, and finally raises some questions on the issues at stake. These include jurisdictional questions, policies and funding, special populations, motivation and access, methods and materials, training and professional activities, research, and supportive services. A fairly comprehensive bibliography with emphasis on Canadian sources and a directory of Canadian organizations and contact persons are provided. (YLB)

This paper contributes to the debate over how the federal government can best help state and local authorities improve student achievement by providing examples from other countries of innovations in the role of the national government. The authors believe that the degree to which foreign policy structures parallel those of the United States are significant in such a comparison: Canada, Australia, and Germany also have federal systems of government where authority over most matters of education resides ultimately in state and local rather than the national government. Although such a system has historically constrained the ability of the federal government to influence student achievement, these governments are exploring new ways to improve student outcomes. The central recommendation of this paper is that the federal government, in addition to fostering a culture of accountability, must also help create an environment that enables success. Drawing on the experience of other federal governments, the authors suggest: (1) Expanding access to high-quality early childhood education, perhaps through federally supported vouchers making children ready for schooling; (2) Creating a common system for tracking students (of any age) who transfer between states; and (3) Making it easier for districts to find the teachers and principals they need through a national job databank and pension portability. Each federal government discussed in this paper has an established system of gathering and collecting education statistics, monitoring state performance, and developing standards for accountability, capacities that were built during the most recent wave of education reforms. Ultimate success, the authors conclude, depends on a second wave of reform that will increase the federal government's role not just in setting standards, but in helping states achieve them. (Contains 2 boxes and 1 figure.)

There was a major change in Canadian student aid in the late 1990s, due largely to a package of measures adopted by the Government Canada as part of its "Canada Opportunities Strategy". At the time, what aroused the most comment was the creation in 1998 of the $2.5 billion Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (Foundation). But while the Foundation was certainly a welcome--if controversial--addition to the country's stock of need-based aid, its creation did not herald the start of a new focus on need-based aid. Quite the contrary, in fact: the creation of the Foundation was actually the last major investment in need-based aid made by any Canadian government for nearly seven years. In retrospect, the most significant measure of the late 1990s was contained not the flashy 1998 federal budget, but rather in the almost unheralded budget of 1996. In that budget, the monthly education tax credit amount for full-time students was increased from $60 per month to $80 per month. Though it hardly set the world on fire, this measure fundamentally altered the nature of student aid in Canada. The next year the monthly amount was increased--in stages--from $80 per month to $200 per month and part-time students became eligible for a $60 per month credit. These amounts were later doubled in the federal Liberals' pre-election mini-budget of October 2000, and then hiked again in 2006 when the new Conservative government created a $60 per month tax credit for "textbooks" which was an addition to the existing monthly amount in all but name. Ancillary fees were added to the tuition fee tax credit. Student loan interest became subject to a tax credit as well. Provinces not to be outdone got into the tax credit act, too. Most matched the increases in federal tax credits--some (notably Alberta) increased them way beyond anything the federal government did. Some have-not provinces even began trying to use education tax credits as a way to stem the loss of their youth population. What all of this signaled was a decreased desire on the part of governments to use need-based student assistance to distribute aid to those who need it the most. Instead, governments began finding non-need-based methods of providing supports: tax credits, tuition freezes--anything which did not use need as a criterion--became the preferred method of distributing money. Indeed, governments went so far as to begin actively seeking to distribute money to people who--so far from being needy--were actually well enough off to save substantial sums of money for their children's education. The Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), begun in 1998, almost immediately became a $400-million per year program. Recently, provinces have begun copying this, too--most notably, Quebec, which has begun matching federal contributions to the program on a 1:2 basis. The metamorphosis from a need-based system of aid to a predominantly non-need-based system of aid in Canada did not happen instantly. It has been the slow, inexorable result of an accretion of government decisions at both the federal and provincial levels. Ideology has not played a part--governments of both the left and right alike have plunged with abandon into non-need-based projects. The purpose of this report is to shed light on the how this situation evolved, on a province-by-province basis. In Chapter 2, the paper takes data from 1993-94 to 2003-04 (the last year for which good data is available) to show how the mix of available aid changed in each province over that decade, and how these changes helped to offset the rises in tuition which occurred over that time. Though there are some broad themes which emerge from this examination, the situation was not the same in all provinces and the individual sections of this chapter should help the reader understand the nuances in situations across the country. Although good data on student assistance is not available past 2004, it is possible to track the broad outline changes in student aid just by examining various budget documents and tracking government announcements dealing with student financial assistance. This paper does this in Chapter 3. In the final chapter, the paper examines the cumulative effect of these changes on student assistance and outlines who has benefited the most from the recent changes. Targeted Need-Based Student Assistance is appended. A bibliography is included. (Contains 16 tables, 21 figures and 22 footnotes.)

This paper describes a looming crisis in Canadian student financial assistance. It begins by summarizing the known evidence with respect to student financial assistance. It notes that many studies have emphasized the central importance of grants targeted to low-income students as a means to expand of access to post-secondary education, but that the same studies have tended to show that subsidies for higher income students have little or no effect. The paper then looks at four sets of threats which are currently converging on the student aid system and especially its system of aid for low-income students. (Contains 8 footnotes, 4 figures and 1 table. A bibliography is included.) [This document was published by the Educational Policy Institute (EPI).]

This report describes programs that require a bachelor's degree, not necessarily in the same field, for entry to the program. They are equivalent to at least one semester of full-time study, with at least some of the instruction delivered face-to-face in British Columbia, Canada. Graduate programs, professional programs such as law and medicine, and post-baccalaureate diploma programs in public, not-for profit, and for-profit institutions are all within its scope. The paper touches on an extensive and representative sample of programs and institutions, but does not provide a complete inventory. The focus is on how programs were established, not on everything that has happened subsequently. Although a few graduate programs existed prior to 1945, postsecondary education in BC until then consisted mainly of undergraduate teaching institutions and various apprenticeship and articling opportunities. With the growth of research funding from the federal government, graduate education began expanding in the 1950s and, by the 1960s, doctoral education had become common. Professional programs had a more varied evolution, with some moving from training provided by the profession into the university and with many raising their entry qualifications to a bachelor's degree. The most recent post-baccalaureate developments have concerned post-degree certificates and diplomas. BC Public Institutions are appended. [For "Agencies and Organizations. Made in B.C.: A History of Postsecondary Education in British Columbia. Volume 6," see ED536089.]

This report traces the development of the workplace apprenticeship system and college-based pre-apprenticeship training in Canada's most western province, British Columbia. The Canadian system is mildly distinctive in an international context and within Canada, British Columbia is increasingly distinctive. Federal government influence has been significant, even though education is a provincial jurisdiction. Government involvement in apprenticeship began in the 1930s, but it was not until the 1960s that federal funding spurred the establishment of a system of public vocational and technical institutions in British Columbia. Tensions in administering trades training developed in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to the establishment of three successive organizations to oversee the system. The report begins chronologically but concludes with short discussions of a series of topics such as completion rates and curriculum development. Some institutions, private as well as public, are briefly described. Some registration statistics itemizing trades are presented but individual trades are beyond the paper's scope. The report synthesizes a wide variety of sources to provide an overview of a poorly studied and often fragmented aspect of postsecondary education. Four appendixes present: (1) Challenges Enumerated by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, 2004; (2) Registration Statistics, 1935-2010; (3) Fulltime Equivalent Enrolment, Public Institutions, 1990-2010; and (4) Trades List 2011. A bibliography is included. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For Volume 4, see ED524626.]

Nearly one out of five Canadian residents was born outside of Canada and approximately two-thirds of Canada's population growth results from net international migration. Only Australia, where immigrants represent 24% of the population, has a greater percentage of immigrants than Canada (18%). Immigration is a major factor in Canada's economic growth, but successful transitions into the Canadian labour market remain elusive for many immigrants, whose skills, knowledge and experience are too frequently under-utilized. This paper presents several strategies for removing obstacles to the successful integration of immigrants into labour markets. (Contains 3 figures.)

This report represents Canada's background report to a review of the transition from initial education to working life. Part 1 is a paper on the context of Canadian education (social, economic, and educational environment) and common issues across Canada. An examination of issues shows that transition is now a more challenging period; the concept of transition is evolving as a result of the changing characteristics of the labor market and changing aspirations of young people; public attitudes toward employment prospects for young people may be too pessimistic; and many groups cooperate in design, funding, and delivery of transition programs and services. Significant trends include the following: (1) increased diversity of approach, (2) a shift from specific vocational courses to broad-based technology courses; (3) integration of work experience into secondary school; and (4) emphasis on links between curriculum and work. Parts 2 and 3 are case studies from Nova Scotia and Quebec. Each considers context; institutional framework; clarification of the transition concept; concerns about the transition process and outcomes; and changing expectations and objectives. Part 4 presents results of a questionnaire sent to these five provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia. The 35 questions are grouped in these categories: general, initiatives, trends, programs, youth, and research. (YLB)

The role of the Canadian federal government in financing Canadian post-secondary education is described. Current policies have their origins in the 1967 establishment of a federal/provincial shared-cost arrangement. Later, a change in policy diminished the federal presence in post-secondary educational finance and placed institutions in competition with health services for funds from the provinces. Specific funding from the federal government is still available through grants and contributions from specific federal ministries. Of the 46 ministries, the following 15 are providing direct support for various research and educational projects in 1991-92: Indian Affairs and Northern Development; Industry, Science and Technology; Justice; National Defence; National Health and Welfare; Transport; Secretary of State of Canada; Solicitor General of Canada; Agriculture; Employment and Immigration; Energy, Mines and Resources; Environment; External Affairs; Finance; and Forestry. In addition, the Privy Council Department (one of nine bodies making up the Privy Council) also make funds available to post-secondary institutions, while the National Science and Engineering Research Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council allocate funds for post-secondary education totaling $795 million. Overall, though reduced, the federal presence in post-secondary education is still significant. The extent and nature of the involvement of each ministry is detailed in the paper. Nine references are included. (JB)

This policy paper argues that maintaining the universities' role--that of creating and transmitting knowledge over a broad spectrum of disciplines and professions--and supporting the institutional infrastructure, will require a new definition of the Canadian government responsibility in financing universities. Sources of university funding in Ontario for 1979-80 are analyzed. A disquieting trend toward earmarking funds, which reduces flexibility and could affect quality in core activities, is noted. It is recommended that the federal government and the Council of Ministers of Education join to form a Canadian Advisory Council for Higher Education and Research with statutory responsibilities for specific policies and programs. It is also proposed that direct federal funding be confined to four categories: limited engagement in manpower planning, student assistance, research, and some specific federal concerns related to defense, international affairs, culture, and language. The government contention that special funding for externally proposed university programs would improve advanced manpower training is rejected. Special alternatives for federal assumption of student assistance responsibilities are suggested, and proposals are made for assistance in core and supplementary research. Four reports are appended: "Where Do Canadian Universities Stand in Public Priorities," a committee discussion paper; sources of university revenue, 1979-80 (data tables); the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada response to a government report on manpower development; and a critique of another government report on employment opportunities. (MSE)