Table 3 
Difficulties for parents and guardians in finding a child care arrangement, children aged 0 to 5 years, Canada, 2022 

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Difficulties for parents and guardians in finding a child care arrangement, children aged 0 to 5 years, Canada, 2022
Number of children – Among children using child carePercentage of children – Among children using child careLower confidence limit at 95% – Among children using child careUpper confidence limit at 95% – Among children using child careNumber of children – Among children not using child carePercentage of children – Among children not using child careLower confidence limit at 95% – Among children not using child careUpper confidence limit at 95% – Among children not using child care
  number %%% number %%%
Did you have difficulty finding child care?                
No 611,600 52.6 51.1 54.2 190,500 17.5 16.0 19.0
Yes 471,300 40.5 39.0 42.1 214,500 19.7 18.2 21.1
Did not look for child care 79,600 6.8 6.1 7.7 686,300 62.9 61.0 64.7
What difficulties did you have?1                
Care available in your community 268,800 57.2 54.7 59.6 115,000 53.9 49.9 58.0
Affordable child care 215,000 45.7 43.3 48.2 129,900 60.9 56.9 64.8
Care that fits your work or study schedule 141,000 30.0 27.7 32.4 61,900 29.0 25.3 33.0
Finding the quality of care that you desire 135,200 28.8 26.5 31.1 53,500 25.1 21.7 28.8
Finding licensed care 136,500 29.0 26.8 31.4 59,200 27.8 24.3 31.5
Qualified care provider 105,800 22.5 20.5 24.7 47,100 22.1 18.9 25.7
Care that could accommodate more than one child in your family 56,800 12.1 10.4 13.9 30,000 14.1 11.1 17.6
Care that meets your child's special needs 17,000E 3.6 2.7 4.8 F 4.8 3.3 6.9
Finding care during the COVID-19 pandemic 110,900 23.6 21.5 25.8 74,100 34.8 30.7 39.0
Subsidized child care spaces or spaces eligible for child care fee subsidy 144,200 30.7 28.4 33.1 68,200 32.0 28.3 36.0
Child care that offers culturally-relevant or minority language programming 22,800E 4.8 3.8 6.1 13,500E 6.4 4.7 8.5
Other 52,600 11.2 9.7 12.8 18,400E 8.6 6.5 11.3
Did the difficulty result in any of the following?1                
Using multiple care arrangements or a temporary arrangement 134,500 28.9 26.6 31.3 37,900 17.7 14.8 21.1
Working fewer hours 170,500 36.6 34.2 39.1 73,300 34.3 30.4 38.4
Postponing your return to work 132,900 28.6 26.3 30.9 89,700 42.0 37.9 46.2
Postponing or discontinuing school or training 37,100 8.0 6.7 9.5 28,500 13.3 10.7 16.6
Deciding to work at home 76,200 16.4 14.5 18.4 40,600 19.0 16.0 22.5
Changing your work or study schedules 175,900 37.8 35.4 40.3 79,700 37.3 33.2 41.6
Changing jobs, quitting job or closing business 66,000 14.2 12.5 16.0 40,800 19.1 15.9 22.7
Deciding to have a parent stay home with the child 78,900 17.0 15.1 19.0 82,400 38.5 34.3 42.9
Paying more for child care than you wanted to pay 151,000 32.5 30.2 34.8 38,700 18.1 15.0 21.7
Other impacts 54,200 11.6 10.2 13.3 26,500 12.4 9.7 15.6
No specific impact 62,900 13.5 12.0 15.2 12,500E 5.8 4.3 7.8
E
use with caution
F
too unreliable to be published
Note(s):
  • Reasons add up to more than 100% because parents can select multiple options.
  • In 2022, the Survey on Early Learning and Child Care Arrangements was not collected in the territories.
Source(s):
Tables 42-10-0001-01, 42-10-0008-01 and 42-10-0009-01.

Table note 1

Proportion is among those who reported having difficulty.
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