I will try to give my humble opinion.
I think we're too late if we do not intervene early. I think there has to be federal support across Canada for early childhood intervention. There've been different aspects mentioned here, both from a parenting perspective to a mental health perspective.
Parents pre-birth, whether they're single or low income, need that support to develop a healthy child and to go into the delivery of the child, recognizing that they need help in learning how to parent and how to provide the child with a safe, healthy early childhood development stage. We know that if you miss the first three years, you are lost. A lot of our mental health challenges come from things in those early years, whether they are delayed developmental issues.... The child is struggling at school; they've already set that pattern for down the road. Therefore, they are labelled as not fitting the norm; they do not fit into our school system, etc.
There are other offshoots that could also provide support, such as extended parental leave, mother's leave beyond the year. Look at the European programs that deem or give value to mothering and parenting beyond that time. Thank heavens, we have the year now, but a lot of our parents on low income cannot afford to stay off a year; it is not viable for them to stay off a year.