Despite considerable media coverage about the difficulty of finding licensed child care spaces, most prospective parents wait far too long before trying to apply for one. Many parents don’t think about their child care arrangements until late into their pregnancy or well into their maternity/parental leave.
To better understand how parents learn about child care and how best to get information into their hands early CUPW partnered with the Child Care Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) to survey CUPW members who were on maternity/parental leave.
We gained a number of insights into the best ways to communicate with members and about the kind of information they need. We learned word of mouth (family, friends and coworkers) is one of the main sources of information. So too is social media. Members also want information about how to apply for child care and about government fee subsidies. Many members talked about wanting to better understand their rights and the process to apply for EI maternity/parental leave, work accommodation and other work/life balance issues. These findings will help inform the work of the CUPW Child Care Fund over the coming months and years.
This paper is the latest in a series of annual survey reports that track child care fee subsidy rates across the country. Time Out 2017 follows three earlier surveys: The Parent Trap (2014), They Go Up So Fast (2015) and A Growing Concern (2016). The data shows that policy matters when it comes to parental fees with provinces providing operational funding consistently showing the lowest fees. Without doubt, child care fees in most of Canada are far too expensive for many. While the ongoing child care fee data is filling an important gap, fees are only part of the puzzle of how parents are coping with finding care for their children.
For Immediate Release - OTTAWA – The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is disappointed with the much-anticipated federal and provincial/territorial framework agreement on early learning and child care.
Saturday, December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This year, it’s also the tenth anniversary of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is a day to take stock of progress since the Convention’s adoption in 2006.
A resource guide for the CUPW Child Care Fund documenting three success stories. It shows how the union can help CUPW members find child care solutions, and pressure governments to fund child care initiatives.
CUPW is working with Franco-Sol French Language Child Care Centre, which operates ten different locations across Windsor and Amherstburg and with Ska:na Family Learning Centre, which operates four different locations in Windsor and Sarnia. The two agencies provide a variety of flexible, high-quality programs and services to children from infancy to age 12. These include extended-hours care. All services provided are inclusive of children with special needs.
In Rocky Mountain House (Red Deer), the union spearheaded a rural community development initiative to support our RSMC members. A broad cross-section of community partners came together to develop a non-profit child care centre, Community and Child Care Connections (CCCC). CCCC delivers services to children aged six months to 12, and offers extended hours care.
In Fredericton, CUPW and UPCE-PSAC partnered with the Preschool Centre, a non-profit, community-based program, to develop a child care centre for infants through to school-age children. It now operates six centres across Fredericton and provides for flexible extended hours.
In Winnipeg, Knox Day Nursery meets the changing needs of the community, including flexible hours of child care. Knox Day Nursery provides care to children aged 18 months to six years, serving families from diverse cultures and integrating children with special needs. The centre is open from 6:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition
Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.
The April 28 election is happening as we are engaged in a fight for the future of our post office and our jobs. Canada Post is pushing for drastic changes which could lead to job cuts and negatively impact our communities. Canada Post’s sole shareholder is the Government. Who is in government matters. We represent a big voting bloc which could have an impact on election results – particularly in tight races. We can make the future of our public post office an election issue.
Now that hearings for the Industrial Inquiry Commission are complete, we'd like to remind members of some important dates in the weeks ahead. Commissioner Kaplan’s final report to the Minister of Labour is due May 15. His report will give the Minister recommendations about how to resolve the issues in dispute in bargaining. It may also include recommendations about the structure and operations of Canada Post. We made our position clear throughout the hearings that these types of questions must only be dealt with in a fully public mandate review.
Postal workers are well aware that the planet is getting hotter. More and more, we are facing extreme events - such as an increasing number of wildfires with their toxic smoke, lethal heat domes and atmospheric rivers bringing more rain, more coastal storms and more flooding. But it’s children who are most at risk.
A federal election has now been called for April 28, 2025. Although the Canadian Union of Postal Workers does not endorse any party, we will be putting pressure on candidates from all parties to commit to defending our public post office and good stable jobs.
On Thursday, March 20, CUPW will join U.S. postal workers in a day of action to defend the public post office.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing one of the most serious threats in its history. Postal worker jobs and unions, and the USPS’s public service mission are under assault by the Trump administration that seems to have one end goal in mind: privatization.
Following targeted testing in late 2024 and early 2025, the Canada Post MyMoney Account is now available nationwide. This marks a key step in expanding Canada Post’s financial services offerings.
On March 3rd and 4th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continued with its constitutional challenge before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).