The early learning and child care industry in Canada: Business characteristics and industry gross domestic product

Childcare supports labour force participation for parents, and can support language, early learning, and the social development of children before they enter the school system. However, there has been little consistent, comparable information on early learning and childcare businesses across the provinces and territories. This paper examines the business and economic characteristics of childcare in Canada, which is provided by firms through markets, and early learning services funded by governments through junior kindergarten and kindergarten. The paper uses administrative datasets to identify firms providing childcare services in Canada for children up to and including the age of 5 for the period from 2008 to 2016. The childcare firms are then used as a basis to examine the revenue and Gross domestic product of the childcare industry based on the type of firm (incorporated vs. unincorporated) generating the income.