2007 Bill 207 Third Session, 26th Legislature, 56 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 207 CHILD CARE ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY ACT MRS. MATHER First Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Committee of the Whole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Third Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Royal Assent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bill 207 Mrs. Mather BILL 207 2007 CHILD CARE ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY ACT (Assented to , 2007) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows: Purpose 1 The purpose of this Act is to increase accessibility to, and government accountability for, universal, affordable and high quality child care.

Definitions 2 In this Act, (a) “Minister” means the Minister determined under

section 16 of the Government Organization Act as the Minister responsible for this Act; (b) “child care spaces” means child care spaces available in licensed day care centres, approved family day homes and licensed out-of-school care centres. 10-year action plan 3(1) The Minister must develop a 10-year action plan for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2017, that will increase the availability of child care spaces in the province, with the target at the end of the 10-year period being sufficient child care spaces for not less than 30% of the children in Alberta who are 12 years of age or younger. 1

(2) The Minister must complete the action plan under this

section within 90 days of the coming into force of this Act and must immediately make it public. Ministerial review 4(1) Commencing January 1, 2018, the Minister must conduct a review of the level of access to child care spaces in the province to determine whether the target in the 10-year action plan has been reached and whether further government initiatives are required.

(2) The Minister must complete the review under this

section no later than March 31, 2018, and immediately make it public. Annual reporting 5(1) For the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2017, the Minister must include the following information in the annual report for the ministry required under

section 14 of the Government Accountability Act: (

a) indicators of availability of child care spaces, such as an analysis of the number of spaces available during that fiscal year by age of child and type of setting; (

b) indicators of affordability of child care, such as average service fees charged as a percentage of the average wages in the province; (

c) indicators of quality, such as training requirements, staff qualifications and remuneration, child-to-staff member ratios, group size and provisions and facilities relating to health, safety and the physical environment; (

d) indicators of accessibility, such as eligibility criteria and number of children receiving subsidies, income levels of parents of children enrolled in child care, percentage of children with special needs enrolled and number of children receiving services by urban and rural regions; and (

e) the amount expended by the Government on child care.

(2) The information required under subsection (1) must be broken down by child and family services region as established under the Child and Family Services Authorities Act. 2

Public documents 6 In this Act, if the Minister is required to make a document public, the Minister must (

a) if the Assembly is sitting, table the document in the Assembly, or (

b) if the Assembly is not sitting, (

i) provide the document to the Speaker of the Assembly for distribution to every Member of the Assembly, and (ii) make the document available to the general public. 3

Record of Debate STAGE DATE MEMBER FROM TO TOTAL CUMULATIVE TOTAL Title: 2007 (26th, 3rd) Bill 207, Child Care Accountability and Accessibility Act