On child care, we applaud the recently announced commitment to a national child care program within the federal budget.
Child care issues, as you know, are complex, and for those in rural communities the challenges are compounded. As a leading national not-for-profit child care provider, Clubs knows the benefit that access to quality-enriching child care can have on the lives of children; yet for some, it simply isn't accessible.
Child care is key to the economic stability of Canada and to getting people back to work. Not-for-profit providers are key partners to ensuring that every community can have access to child care and before- and after-school programs.
We see first-hand the effects that systemic problems such as poor access to Internet, employment and child care have within rural communities and the impact this has on women's access to opportunities. We know that the solution needs to be systemic. We need a system of wraparound supports that addresses all of the intersecting issues to sustain rural communities and their prosperity in the long term.
We have four recommendations for this committee.