Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series
Characteristics of Child Care Workers Who Claimed the Canada Emergency Response Benefit in 2020

Acknowledgment

This paper was funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Abstract

In March 2020, child care provision in Canada was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and most provinces mandated the closure of child care centres, schools and family child care homes. This study examines the percentage of child care workers who claimed the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and their characteristics. About 65% of child care workers claimed the CERB, compared with 35% of all employed workers in Canada. Child care workers who claimed the CERB were more likely to be working in schools (than in the daycare services industry); have lower wages; and live in Ontario, the Prairie provinces or British Columbia (compared with Quebec and the Atlantic provinces).

1 Introduction

In March 2020, child care provision in Canada was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most provinces mandated the closure of child care centres, schools and family child care homes. Friendly et al. (2021) conducted a survey of child care facilities in Canada from April to May 2020 and reported that 72% of surveyed child care centres had closed. Although this survey was not representative of all child care providers, it provided an estimate of the magnitude of child care centre closures in the early days of the pandemic.

The provinces and territories had different policies around child care closures, and those that mandated closures had varied reopening dates. All provinces and territories except for British Columbia, Nunavut and Yukon mandated child care closures, with reopening dates varying from May 11, 2020, in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec (outside Montréal) to June 12, 2020, in Ontario. In addition, all provinces and territories mandated school closures, with only Quebec and Manitoba reopening before September 2020. In terms of child care homes, the Atlantic provinces and Quebec mandated the closure of licensed child care homes, but other provinces did not. Fewer provinces mandated the closure of unlicensed child care homes. Although many child care centres and homes were not required to close, many did. For example, Friendly et al. (2021) reported that 40% of surveyed child care centres in British Columbia were closed, even though closure was not required in that province. The appendix provides a brief overview of mandated child care closures in the provinces and territories.

Child care centre and home closures have an obvious impact on the child care workforce. In this respect, Uppal & Savage (2021) studied the changes in employment among child care workers since the start of the pandemic based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS). They found that while overall employment fell by 15% from February to April 2020, employment among child care workers fluctuated more during the pandemic. That is, employment among child care workers was down 36% in April compared with February 2020. Employment among child care workers was slower to return to pre-pandemic levels compared with total employment in Canada. By February 2021, one year after the onset of the pandemic in Canada, employment among child care workers had dropped by 21% compared with February 2020. By contrast, total employment in Canada decreased by 3%.

Data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) have shown similar trends. In terms of child care, the SEPH reports on the number of employees receiving pay in the daycare services industry and does not include self-employed workers or workers in other industries such as schools and private households. In September 2020, payroll employment in the daycare services industry was 13.1% lower than February 2020 (Statistics Canada, 2020). Furthermore, in November 2020, payroll employment in the daycare services industry was still 9.8% below the February 2020 level (Statistics Canada, 2021). Comparatively, payroll employment for all industries in November 2020 was down 6.6% compared with February 2020.

The pre-pandemic characteristics of child care workers differed from those of other workers in Canada. Child care workers were more likely to be immigrants or non-permanent residents (33%) compared with other workers (25%; Uppal & Savage, 2021). As well, compared with other workers in Canada, child care workers were more likely to be women (96% versus 47%), be younger than 45 years old (64% versus 55%), have children at home (55% versus 43%) and belong to a visible minority group (28% versus 21%). In terms of job characteristics, compared with other workers in Canada, child care workers were more likely to be self-employed (25% versus 15%), less likely to be working full time (76% versus 81%) and less likely to be union members (26% versus 31% among employee [not self-employed] workers). Child care workers also had lower earnings, making $19.97 per hour in 2019, compared with $27.91 for other workers.

From March 15 to September 20, 2020, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) gave financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who were directly affected by COVID-19. This benefit was available to workers who resided in Canada; were aged 15 and older; had stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19, were eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits, or had exhausted their Employment Insurance regular benefits; had employment or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; had not quit their job voluntarily; and had not earned more than $1,000 in employment or self-employment income for 14 or more consecutive days within the four-week period of the claim. COVID-19-related reasons included being in quarantine or sick as a result of COVID-19, taking care of others because they were in quarantine or sick as a result of COVID-19, taking care of children or other dependants because their child care facility was closed as a result of COVID-19, or losing their job as a result of COVID-19. Workers collecting the CERB received $500 per week.^Note 

No previous research has reported on the percentage of child care workers who claimed the CERB or examined their characteristics. It is important to know how the child care sector responded to COVID-19 and whether policies left any gaps in terms of support for the workers who needed it. Also, given the possibility of new pandemics caused by other viruses, knowing how policies have been used can help when enacting future policies. Child care availability has a direct impact on parents’ ability to work, and it is useful to know what groups of child care workers were most affected and how the child care industry responded.

This paper uses the LFS linked to CERB data to examine the impact of the pandemic on the child care industry and child care workers. The following research questions are explored:

1. What percentage of child care workers claimed the CERB? How many claimed the maximum number of weeks of CERB (28 weeks from March 15 to September 30, 2020)?
2. What job and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with claiming the CERB? How many weeks of CERB were claimed by workers with different job and sociodemographic characteristics?

2 Methods

2.1 Data sources

The characteristics of child care workers who claimed the CERB were examined using the LFS, collected by Statistics Canada, along with information on the CERB, provided by Employment and Social Development Canada. Information on the sociodemographic and job characteristics of child care workers was obtained from the LFS for the months of December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020.^Note  These months were selected to capture people who were child care workers just prior to the pandemic. Child care workers were identified using National Occupational Classification 2011 codes (Statistics Canada, 2018): code 4214 identifies early childhood educators and assistants, and code 4411 identifies home child care providers. People living in the three territories are excluded. Although Statistics Canada uses the same questionnaire to collect and produce labour force data on the territories and provinces, it uses a different methodology and collection strategy in the territories. Thus, the territories were excluded from this analysis.

2.2 Analysis

To examine the use of the CERB, two variables were explored. The first variable examined whether a child care worker claimed the CERB for any week from March 15 to September 30, 2020. The second variable examined the mean number of weeks (in that time frame) that a worker claimed the CERB. These two concepts were examined descriptively by investigating the sociodemographic and job characteristics of (1) workers who claimed the CERB and (2) workers who claimed different mean weeks of CERB.

A logistic regression model examined the factors associated with being a CERB claimant, while a multiple linear regression model examined the factors predicting the weeks of CERB claimed among child care workers who made a CERB claim. These models were run to assess the association of sociodemographic and job characteristics with the odds of being a CERB claimant and the number of weeks of CERB claimed, while controlling for other variables. The variables examined in the descriptive analyses and the models included job characteristics and sociodemographic variables. Job characteristics included self-employment (self-employed versus not self-employed), industry (daycare services, private household, school or other), union membership (union member versus not a union member), job permanence (temporary versus permanent), hours worked (part time, or less than 30 hours worked per week, versus full time, or 30 or more hours worked per week), multiple job status (multiple job holder versus not a multiple job holder), weekly earnings (less than $550 per week, $550 to $749 per week, or $750 or more per week) and job tenure (less than three years, three to five years or more than five years). Questions on three of these job characteristics—union membership, job permanence and weekly earnings—were asked only of non-self-employed workers. For this reason, a single variable was created combining weekly earnings and self-employment for the models, and union membership and job permanence were not included in the models. 

The sociodemographic characteristics that were examined in this study included gender (men versus women), highest level of education (secondary school or less, trades certificate or diploma, or university degree or higher), place of birth (born in Canada versus not born in Canada),^Note  age (younger than 30, 30 to 39, 40 to 49 or 50 and older), age of youngest child in the household (0 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, 15 to 25, or no children at home or children older than 25), marital status (married versus not married), region of residence (Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies or British Columbia)^Note  and Indigenous identity (Indigenous person living off reserve versus not Indigenous). Racialized status was not included as it was not available on the LFS for the months used in this study.

2.3 Results

People employed as child care workers in December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020 differed in terms of certain characteristics compared with all other employed workers in Canada (Table 1). Data from the LFS account for all child care workers, including those working in licensed centres; in schools; as home child care providers; as nannies; and in other settings, such as drop-in child care services in gyms, malls and stores. During the pre-pandemic period of December 2019 to February 2020, employed child care workers were more likely to be self-employed compared with other employed workers (21% versus 14%). Among those who were employees (i.e., not self-employed), child care workers were less likely than other employed workers to have weekly earnings of $750 or more (37% versus 64%). Child care workers did not differ significantly from all other employed workers in terms of union membership, job permanence, part-time status, job tenure and multiple job status. Previous research using the LFS found differences between child care workers and other workers in terms of union membership, job permanence, part-time status and job tenure (Uppal & Savage, 2021) that may not have been significant in this study because of a smaller sample.

Employed child care workers also differed in terms of sociodemographic characteristics compared with all other employed workers. Child care workers were more likely than all other employed workers to be women (96% versus 48%) and to have a trades certificate or diploma (57% versus 36%), but less likely to have a university degree or higher (22% versus 33%). They were also more likely to have been born outside Canada (37% versus 28%). Child care workers were less likely to have no children at home (47% versus 62%) and were more likely to live in Quebec (30% versus 23%). Previous research has shown that the ratio of child care workers to the total employed population is higher in Quebec (2.4%) than in all of Canada (1.6%) (Uppal & Savage, 2021) because of the greater proportion of parents using child care services in Quebec (Findlay, 2019). During the pre-pandemic period, child care workers did not differ from other employed workers in terms of age, marital status and Indigenous identity.

Table 2 shows the percentage of employed child care workers and all other employed workers who claimed the CERB, along with the percentage who claimed different numbers of weeks of CERB. About 62% of child care workers had a CERB claim from March 15 to September 30, 2020, which was higher than the percentage of all other employed workers who had a CERB claim (35%). Of CERB claimants, 20% of child care workers claimed the maximum amount (28 weeks), which did not differ from other employed workers (20%). Of CERB claimants, child care workers claimed a mean of 17.45 weeks, which was not significantly different from the number of weeks claimed by all other employed workers (16.70).

Table 3 shows the percentage of child care workers who claimed the CERB by job and sociodemographic characteristics. There were few significant differences between child care workers who did and did not claim the CERB. Child care workers who had a CERB claim were more likely to have lower weekly earnings: 53% of child care workers with weekly earnings of $750 or more had a CERB claim, compared with 70% of child care workers who had weekly earnings of less than $550. CERB claims also varied by region of residence, with claims being less likely among child care workers who lived in Quebec than those living in the other regions. Less than 43% of child care workers in Quebec had a CERB claim, compared with 60% in the Atlantic provinces, 73% in Ontario, 66% in the Prairies and 72% in British Columbia. Child care workers who did and did not claim the CERB did not differ significantly in terms of self-employment, union membership, job permanence, hours worked, job tenure, gender, education, Canadian-born status, age, age of youngest child in the household, marital status and Indigenous identity. Although some of these variables appear to differ in terms of the percentage who claimed the CERB, they were not significantly different.

The mean (average) weeks of CERB claimed by child care workers followed the same trends as the percentage of child care workers who claimed a high number of weeks of CERB (Table 4). Of the child care workers who had a CERB claim, those in schools claimed fewer weeks—a mean of 12 weeks—compared with a mean of 18 to 19 weeks for those in the daycare services industry, private households and other industries. On average, child care workers who were union members claimed fewer weeks than non-union members (12 versus 19 weeks). The number of weeks claimed also varied by pre-pandemic weekly earnings, with workers who were making $750 or more per week claiming a mean of 14 weeks of CERB, compared with 19 weeks for workers making less than $550 per week and 18 weeks for workers making $550 to $749 per week. Child care CERB claimants who had been at their job for less than three years claimed more weeks of CERB (mean of 19 weeks) than workers who had been at their job for more than five years (mean of 16 weeks). Canadian-born child care workers claimed fewer weeks than non-Canadian-born workers (mean of 16 versus 19 weeks). Last, the number of weeks claimed varied by region or residence, with workers in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces claiming the fewest weeks (means of 14 and 15 weeks, respectively) and workers in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia claiming more weeks (means of 18, 19 and 19 weeks, respectively). The number of weeks claimed among child care workers who claimed the CERB did not differ significantly in terms of self-employment, job permanence, hours worked, gender, age, age of youngest child in the household and Indigenous identity.

Table 5 presents the results of the logistic regression model predicting the odds of being a CERB claimant for child care workers and shows all the variables included in the model. After controlling for the other job and sociodemographic characteristics, child care workers who worked in schools were the most likely to have made a CERB claim, with over three times the odds of having made a CERB claim compared with child care workers in the daycare services industry. Also, child care workers in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia were more likely than those in Quebec to have made a CERB claim: those in Ontario had more than four times the odds, those in the Prairies had three times the odds and those in British Columbia had almost four times the odds of having made a CERB claim compared with those in Quebec.

Table 6 shows the results of the multiple linear regression model predicting the weeks of CERB claimed (among child care workers who made a CERB claim), showing all variables included in the model. After controlling for all other job and sociodemographic characteristics, child care CERB claimants who worked in schools claimed the fewest weeks of CERB, almost five weeks less than those who worked in the daycare services industry. Weekly earnings were also associated with the number of weeks of CERB claims. Compared with child care CERB claimants with weekly earnings of $750 or more, self-employed workers claimed about three and a half more weeks. Employee workers with weekly earnings of less than $550 claimed more than five more weeks, and employee workers with weekly earnings of $550 to $749 claimed almost three more weeks. Last, child care CERB claimants in Ontario claimed significantly more weeks, even after controlling for job and sociodemographic characteristics. Child care CERB claimants in Ontario claimed more than three and a half more weeks compared with those in Quebec.

3 Discussion

Child care provision in Canada has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study showed that 65% of child care workers claimed the CERB from March 15 to September 30, 2020, compared with 35% of all employed workers in Canada. In addition, child care workers who claimed the CERB were more likely to have a high number of weeks of CERB claims (15 or more weeks) compared with other workers (63% versus 57%).

Among child care workers, those who worked in schools had more than three times the odds of having made a CERB claim compared with those in the daycare services industry. However, among claimants, child care workers in schools claimed approximately three and a half fewer weeks of CERB compared with workers in the daycare services industry. Examining the temporal pattern of CERB claims more closely, child care workers in schools made the most claims in the summer months (July and August), whereas those in the daycare services industry made the most claims in the spring (April and May). Early childhood educators in kindergarten classrooms are permitted to claim Employment Insurance in the summer months (even prior to the pandemic), and this may explain the high rate of CERB claims among child care workers in schools (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2021). Further exploration of the use of support programs—such as the CERB or other Employment Insurance programs—is warranted to understand use by different types of child care workers.

Region of residence was also associated with being a CERB claimant and with the number of weeks claimed. After controlling for other sociodemographic and job characteristics, child care workers in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia were the most likely to have made a CERB claim, and child care workers in Ontario claimed the most weeks of CERB. These findings are generally congruent with the policies enacted by the different provinces in terms of child care during this period of the pandemic. Quebec (outside Montréal) had the earliest reopening date for child care centres of all the provinces. As well, these findings may reflect differences between provinces in terms of funding during child care closures. In Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, compensation was given to licensed centres to replace parent fees (likely used to pay staff), whereas the other provinces did not have similar programs. Future research could examine whether continuing to pay child care workers, compared with laying them off and rehiring them, affected these workers in terms of stress, job satisfaction and job retention.

The child care workers with the lowest wages claimed the most weeks of CERB. This is congruent with Lemieux et al. (2020), who found that the most affected workers in terms of employment were those with lower wages. Lemieux et al. (2020) reported that almost half of all job losses from February to April 2020 were attributed to workers in the bottom earnings quartile. The CERB provided $500 per week, which is higher than the weekly earnings of many workers in the child care sector (about one-third of child care workers were making less than $550 per week before the pandemic).

4 Limitations

Data from the LFS account for all child care workers, including those working in licensed centres; in schools; as home child care providers; as nannies; and in other settings, such as drop-in child care services in gyms, malls and stores. Reporting on all child care workers collectively does not account for the differences among these different groups of workers in the child care sector. Providing information on each of these groups of workers is not possible with the LFS, and reporting on them as one group may mask important differences between different types of workers. As well, at the time of the study, the LFS could not provide information on the racialized status of child care workers.

This study reported on the use of the CERB by child care workers, but some financial support for the child care sector was also provided by the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). The CEWS provided subsidies to Canadian employers who had lost revenue because of the pandemic to cover part of their employees’ wages. This study may, therefore, underestimate the impact of COVID-19 support programs on the child care sector, as some child care workers may have received benefits from the CEWS and not claimed the CERB.

5 Future research

Future research could focus on the child care workforce in general. Topics of study include reasons for working in the child care industry, job satisfaction, job retention and ongoing training opportunities. As well, it is important to consider whether the characteristics of the child care workforce have changed with increased federal investment in child care (Government of Canada, 2021). The job and sociodemographic characteristics of the workforce should continue to be examined as more child care spaces are created and funding is increased. This increased funding may also affect the quality of child care in terms of the education of child care workers and ongoing training opportunities.

6 Conclusions

Child care workers were more likely to claim the CERB compared with other workers in Canada. Among child care workers, the likelihood of claiming the CERB and the number of weeks claimed varied by industry, region and pre-pandemic earnings. Child care workers in schools were more likely to make a CERB claim but claimed fewer weeks than workers in other industries. Workers in Quebec were the least likely to make a CERB claim, and workers in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces claimed the fewest weeks. Child care workers who had higher pre-pandemic earnings claimed fewer weeks of CERB compared with self-employed and lower-paid workers. Future research on child care workers and providers could provide information on subgroups of workers within the child care sector and also focus on the job satisfaction, job retention and training opportunities of child care workers.

7 Appendix

References

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Childcare Resource and Research Unit (2020). Retrieved February 23, 2022.

Employment and Social Development Canada (2021). Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles, Chapter 14. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

Findlay, L. (2019). “Early learning and child care for children aged 0 to 5 years: A provincial/territorial portrait.” Economic Insights. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-626 X.

Friendly, M., Forer, B., Vickerson, R., Mohamed, S. S. (2021). COVID-19 and childcare in Canada: A tale of ten provinces and three territories. Journal of Childhood Studies, 46 (3).

Government of Canada (2021). Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience. Retrieved October 10, 2025.

Lemieux, T., Milligan, K., Schirle, T., Skuterud, M. (2020). Initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian labour market. Canadian Public Policy, 46 (S1).

Statistics Canada (2018). National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2025.

Statistics Canada (2020). Payroll employment, earnings and hours, September 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

Statistics Canada (2021). Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, November 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

Uppal, S., Savage, K. (2021). “Child care workers in Canada.” Insights on Canadian Society. June. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-006-X.