Table 3 
Difficulties for parents and guardians in finding a child care arrangement, children aged 0 to 5, Canada, 2020 

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Difficulties for parents and guardians in finding a child care arrangement, children aged 0 to 5, Canada, 2020
Population estimate – Among children aged 0 to 5 in child careEstimate – Among children aged 0 to 5 in child careLower confidence limit at 95% – Among children aged 0 to 5 in child careUpper confidence limit at 95% – Among children aged 0 to 5 in child carePopulation estimate – Among children aged 0 to 5 not in child careEstimate – Among children aged 0 to 5 not in child careLower confidence limit at 95% – Among children aged 0 to 5 not in child careUpper confidence limit at 95% – Among children aged 0 to 5 not in child care
  number %%% number %%%
Did you have difficulty finding child care?                
No 666,666 55.3 53.5 57.0 177,873 16.1 14.6 17.8
Yes 441,143 36.6 34.9 38.3 232,755 21.1 19.2 23.2
Did not look for child care 98,296 8.1 7.2 9.2 691,770 62.8 60.5 65.0
What difficulties did you have?1                
Care available in your community 247,104 56.3 53.1 59.4 118,214 50.9 45.9 55.8
Affordable child care 190,681 43.4 40.7 46.2 136,232 58.6 53.7 63.4
Care that fits your work or study schedule 144,825 33.0 30.3 35.8 58,847 25.3 21.1 30.1
Finding the quality of care that you desire 129,315 29.4 27.0 32.1 56,359 24.3 20.2 28.8
Finding licensed care 119,900 27.3 24.8 30.0 54,545 23.5 19.4 28.1
Qualified care provider 95,698 21.8 19.5 24.2 42,566 18.3 14.8 22.4
Care that could accommodate more than one child in your family 71,428 16.3 14.1 18.7 41,288 17.8 13.8 22.6
Care that meets your child's special needs 13,495 3.1 2.3 4.1 6,495 2.8 1.8 4.3
Finding care during the COVID-19 pandemic 119,109 27.1 24.5 29.9 99,081 42.6 37.9 47.5
Other 84,670 19.3 17.1 21.7 35,001 15.1 12.0 18.7
Did the difficulty result in any of the following?1                
Changing your work schedule 155,298 35.6 32.8 38.5 59,530 25.6 21.5 30.2
Using multiple care arrangements or a temporary arrangement 128,332 29.4 26.9 32.1 40,303 17.3 12.9 22.8
Working fewer hours 133,601 30.6 28.0 33.4 55,702 23.9 19.8 28.6
Postponing your return to work 115,657 26.5 23.9 29.2 94,592 40.6 35.5 46.0
Deciding to split care with your spouse or partner 100,492 23.0 20.6 25.7 51,309 22.0 18.3 26.3
Postponing or discontinuing school or training 34,917 8.0 6.5 9.8 21,912 9.4 7.2 12.2
Deciding to work at home 54,639 12.5 10.5 14.8 42,629 18.3 14.8 22.5
I gave up looking 29,089 6.7 5.0 8.9 38,367 16.5 13.4 20.1
Other 56,403 12.9 11.1 15.0 34,279 14.7 11.8 18.2
None of the above 89,468 20.5 18.4 22.8 24,401 10.5 7.9 13.8
Note(s):
Reasons add up to more than 100% because parents can select multiple options.
Source(s):
Statistics Canada, Survey on Early Learning and Child Care Arrangements, 2020 (5287).

Table note 1

Proportion is among those who reported having difficulty.
Date modified: