Babes in Arms: An Application of The Australian Federal Child Care Model to Canada

This paper examines the feasibility of implementing the Australian model of federal childcare policy in Canada. A historical institutionalist approach is used to examine this feasibility by means of qualitative and comparative analyses. The distinct policy histories and current measures of both countries are outlined and studied through the course of this paper. Its research finds that, while Australia possesses some similarities in political structure to Canada, their distinct socio-political contexts make much of the former’s model inapplicable to the latter. Canadian federalism’s asymmetry and the political will of its federal units to defend powers conceded to them make it highly unlikely for the federal government to implement one of the most important aspects of the Australian model: a nationwide care standard for childcare facilities. While enacting this tenet of Australian policy is untenable, this paper recommends that federal authorities expand their existing monetary benefits for childcare and for both national and subnational governments to maintain existing agreements on childcare provision