CCHRSC Research

The sector council has completed research in several areas affecting the child care workforce.
Click on a title for details:

• Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators (2010)
• Pathways to Credentialing in Canada's ECEC Sector (2010)
• Labour Market Information Research Agenda (2009)
• Understanding and Addressing Workforce Shortages (2009)
• Supporting Employers in the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector (2008)
• People, Programs and Practices:  A Training Strategy for the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector in Canada (2007)
• Occupational Standards for Child Care Administrators (2006)
• Career Promotions and Recruitment Strategy (2006)
• What Factors Influence Wages and Benefits in Early Learning and Child Care Settings? (2006)
• Working for Change: Canada's Child Care Workforce Labour Market Update (2004)
• 2005 Popularized Research Paper Series on labour market update issues
• Shedding New Light on Recruitment and Retention Challenges in Child Care (2004)
• Making Family Child Care Work (2004)

Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators (2010)

To download the following documents at no charge, please click on the report titles below.

To order print versions of the reports, please click here to download the order form and mail it to the CCHRSC.
• Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators:  The Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators describe the knowledge, skills and abilities early childhood educators (ECEs) need to do their job effectively.
• Task Profile Chart for Early Childhood Educators:  A resource tool accompanying the Occupational Standards for ECEs which summarizes the knowledge, skills and abilities in an organized chart to hang on the wall.
• Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators- “How To” Guide:  This “How To” Guide describes five potential uses for the Occupational Standards for ECEs, including developing job descriptions; conducting performance appraisals; informing and assessing early childhood educator professional program curricula; identifying ongoing professional development needs; and informing certification/registration measures.

Occupational Standards for ECEs Videos

As part of the recently released Occupational Standards for Early Childhood Educators project, two different presentations - How To Use the Standards and Training Gaps Analysis: Results – were delivered across the country. The information presented has now been captured in a series of video segments designed to describe different aspects of each presentation. The videos can be viewed by clicking on the following links, which will bring you to the CCHRSC YouTube channel:

How-To Use the Occupational Standards for ECEs

• Use 1 – Developing Job Descriptions
• Use 2 – Performance Appraisals
• Use 3 – Assessing Programs
• Use 4 – Identifying PD Needs
• Use 5 – Informing Certification/Registration
  
  Training Gaps Analysis of the Occupational Standards for ECEs
  
• Training Gaps: Conducting the Analysis
• Training Gaps: Research Methods (Part 1)
• Training Gaps: Research Methods (Part 2)
• Training Gaps: Strategies & Solutions
• Training Gaps: Moving Forward
  

Pathways to Credentialing in Canada's ECEC Sector (2010)

Credentialing Tool Kit: The final result of this project was the creation of a “toolkit”, which includes the following:

• Pathways to Early Childhood Education Credentialing in Canada report. This report documents the requirements and processes used in each province and territory to recognize an individual’s ECE credentials in order to be considered eligible to work in that jurisdiction as a qualified ECE.
• A searchable Online Guide to Credentialing. Users can review requirements and certification processes to work as an ECE in their own province or territory, as well as compare requirements between other provinces and territories.
• An Occupational Language Analysis for the both ECE and ECE administrator role. Describes necessary language skills - reading, writing, listening, and speaking - for ECEs and ECE administrators.
• An Essential Skills Profile for the ECE role. Learn more about Essential Skills.

Labour Market Information Research Agenda (2009)

• Portrait of Canada's ECEC Workforce (2009): This report provides a statistical overview of the labour market situation in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. 
• Gathering Labour Market Information on Canada's Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Workforce: Data Collection Methods and Classification Systems: This report was developed to inform sector stakeholders about the important tools and methods used to collect and organize quality and accurate data on the workforce. 

Understanding and Addressing Workforce Shortages (2009)

• Estimates of Workforce Shortages: This report examines the literature on ECEC workforce shortages, describes the technique that is used to estimate workforce shortages in the ECEC sector and estimates the economic costs of current workforce shortages.
  Executive Summary: This document contains a brief plain language summary of the Estimates of Workforce Shortages Report.
  
• Recruitment and Retention Challenges and Strategies: This report examines recruitment and retention challenges in the ECEC sector from an economic and human resource management perspective.
  Executive Summary: This document contains a brief plain language summary of the Recruitment and Retention Challenges and Strategies Report.
  
• Literature Review of Socioeconomic Effects and Net Benefits: This report examines the literature on ECEC and its’ impact on children, their parents and society in order to determine the socio-economic implications of workforce shortages in ECEC.
  Executive Summary: This document contains a brief plain language summary of the Literature Review of Socioeconomic Effects and Net Benefits Report.
  
• Literature Review of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Labour Market: This report summarizes available evidence regarding the factors that influence the demand and supply for ECEC workers.
  Executive Summary: This document contains a brief plain language summary of the Literature Review of the ECEC Labour Market Report.

Supporting Employers in the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector (2008)

• Supporting Employers in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project:  Preliminary Findings:  This document provides a summary of the preliminary project research findings, including the results of the Employer Survey, the literature review, focus groups, and key informant interviews.
• Employer Models in Canada's Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Sector:  This document contains a series of 14 descriptive articles designed to bring ECEC governance models to life by exploring different programs and models from the employer perspective.

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People, Programs and Practices:  A Training Strategy for the Early Chilodhood Education and Care Sector in Canada (2007)

People, Programs and Practices recommends ways to improve the quality and consistency of ECEC training in Canada.  Developed in response to the need for a consistent approach to child care training, as identified in the Working for Change Study, the strategy is a critical step in helping provinces and territories meet increasing demands for well-trained staff.

• Student Survey Report
• Faculty Survey Report
• Follow-up Student Survey Report
• Facilitated Expert Focus Group Summary Report
• Literature Review and Environmental Scan

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Occupational Standards for Child Care Administrators (2006)

The Occupational Standards for Child Care Administrators identify the core knowledge, skills, and abilities administrators require in six key areas:  child development and care (programs); human resources; financial; facilities and community relations; and governance.

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Career Promotions and Recruitment Strategy (2006)

The Executive Summary summarizes the findings of the Career Promotions and Recruitment (CPR) Strategy Project, which focused on identifying ways to attract more people to careers in early childhood education and encourage skills development among the existing workforce.

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What Factors Influence Wages and Benefits in Early Learning and Child Care Settings? (2006)

This paper looks at the factors that influence compensation in the sector, with a focus on four variables: Revenue (parent fees, subsidies, operating/recurring government grants); employment and labour issues; system design; and public policy.

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Working for Change: Canada's Child Care Workforce
Labour Market Update (2004)

	The Main Report provides an in-depth profile of the workforce, the environment and context in which they work, and the challenges they face.
	The Executive Summary provides a concise overview of the study's main findings
	The Literature Review identifies key themes and issues relevant to the child care labour market identified in research between 1998 and 2003.
	The Profiles and Case Studies tells the story of 20 individuals working in various sectors and capacities in early childhood education, and examines the roles played by Toronto and Vancouver in supporting regulated child care.

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2005 Popularized Research Paper Series

Click on one of our 2005 Series research papers to download it:

• A Snapshot of the Child Care Workforce: This statistical profile of Canada's child care workforce includes information on a wide range of topics, from age and education to diversity and gender.
• Child Care Wages and a Quality Child Care System: This paper examines earnings, the impact of education on income and the impact that child care expansion and funding could have on wages.
• The Future Child Care Workforce: Perspectives of Early Childhood Education Students: This paper examines key issues affecting ECE students.

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Shedding New Light on Recruitment and Retention Challenges in Child Care (2004)

This study looks at factors that can predict staff intent to leave a child care centre, recruitment and retention problems, and high turnover rates.

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Making Family Child Care Work (2004)

This report examines licensed providers of child care services who work from their homes and provides a legal analysis of their entitlement to benefits, such as employment insurance, and pension and labour law protection.

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