Early
Learning and
Child Care
The Chiefs of Ontario Health Sector invites all First Nations Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) and child and family program educators, managers, and supervisors to join this dedicated new platform. SoftWind is a Quality and Improvement Project designed for networking, learning, and accessing essential resources, featuring community social spaces, micromodules, and an online resource library.
To register for the SoftWind website, please use the following link: http://coo.smudging.ca/Meeting/Register/33a080c9-0ff1-4718-b870-51f0dba313bc
For more information or if you have any questions, please reach out to Anangons Johnson-Owl at Anangons.Johnson-Owl@coo.org.
On September 19, 2023, the ELCC Regional Table was approved by the Chiefs of Ontario Leadership Council with a Record of Decision made for Motion #2023-09-19.10 – Early Learning and Child Care Regional Table Terms of Reference. The Early Learning and Child Care Regional Table (ELCCRT) began in February 2024 with one clear vision: To support, inspire, provide, and empower Ontario First Nations in order for them to fully integrate IELCC into their communities. The ELCCRT discusses and advises on issues relating to early learning and child care including Ontario First Nations-specific funding agreements, priorities, goals, recommendations, policies, delivery of ELCC services, and gaps in ELCC data, and will assert jurisdiction over early years and child care and all 0-12 children’s services with a First Nations perspective. All activities, recommendations, and reports provided by this table will go to the Social Services Coordination Unit, the Chiefs Committee on Social, and the Chiefs in Assembly for approval and final decisions.
The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC) Framework was co-developed with National Indigenous Organizations. Before this, there were extensive engagements done in 2017 with various First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners. The IELCC Framework envisions First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and families as happy and safe, imbued with a strong cultural identity.
The IELCC Framework was endorsed and jointly released in Fall 2018 by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Métis National Council Leadership alongside Canada. Specifically, the First Nations Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Framework was developed and supported by the First Nations-in-Assembly in 2017 via Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Resolution 83/2017: Support for the National First Nations Early Learning and Child Care Policy Framework. The Framework identified the vision, goals, and outcomes of a First Nations ELCC system, with a focus on First Nations governance and control over ELCC.
The IELCC Framework is implemented through a program called the IELCC Transformation Initiative. Established in 2018 at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the IELCC Secretariat is the federal lead in implementing the IELCC Framework. This is done alongside other federal departments such as Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIR-NAC). This is also done through the National Expert Working Group (NEWG), regions such as those represented by Chiefs of Ontario, Provincial Territorial Organizations, and First Nations.
Currently, as of 2025, First Nations in Ontario have access to multiple funding pots from multiple government funders. This includes but is not limited to 1.) Federal legacy programs, such as First Nation and Inuit Child Care Initiative (FNICCI), Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities program (AHSUNC), Aboriginal Head Start On Reserve (AHSOR); 2.) Funding through the Indigenous Early Learning Child Care (IELCC) Framework, such as Major Capital Infrastructure Funding, Transformative Action Fund, Programs and Services, and Governance; 3.) The Ontario Child Care and Early Years Act; 4.) The 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement (IWA); and 5.) The Canada-Ontario Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement (CWELCC), of which on-reserve programs are excluded. These various funding commitments lead to piecemeal approaches to children and community needs and service delivery. It also results in increased administrative burden and reporting for First Nations.
The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC) Framework funding is advanced via Employment and Social Development Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Indigenous Services Canada, Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to Indigenous recipients. Allocations are decided by First Nation leadership at the national level and then, at the regional level. In June 2024, at the Chiefs of Ontario Annual Chiefs Assembly, Resolution 24/19 Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Funding was carried. Resolution 24/19 established an ongoing regional allocation. It directed Employment and Social Development Canada to release and distribute the remaining fiscal years of the IELCC Framework Funding as based on the Ontario First Nation Limited Partnership (OFNLP) Funding Formula. This applies to all funding sources under the IELCC Framework. The OFNLP Funding formula will apply until a needs-based allocation formula is determined or until the agreement exhausts.
Chiefs of Ontario acknowledge that this funding model does not account for the high costs of service delivery in Northern communities, small communities, or communities with high populations. The model does not account for historical underfunding, infrastructure, human resource or capacity funding, or the costs of language and cultural
programming, and is based on an inadequate population dataset.
Overall, if a First Nation is eligible and are able to maintain the reporting requirements required to offer Child Care and Child and Family Programs suitable to Ontario Ministry of Education Standards, then there is funding for Operating, Mental Health Support, Professional Learning, Administration Funding, and Child Care Services
If a First Nation enters a Child Care and/or Child and Family Program service agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Education, they are required to produce supplementary information by detail codes (funding types) summarizing all revenues and expenditures related to the service agreement(s). detail codes (funding types include but are not limited to: Fee subsidies, Health and Safety, Special Needs Resources, Wage Subsidy, Pay Equity Union Settlement, Ontario Works Formal, Ontario Works Informal, Child Care Transformation, Childcare Supervisor Network- Capacity, Wage Enhancement/ HCCEG. Wage Enhancement/ HCCEG Administration, Small Water Works, Base Funding for Licensed Home Child Care and/ or First Nations Child and Family Programs- Operating Ongoing. In addition to reporting on funding expenses, First Nations must report on child and family programs data elements.