“It is almost impossible to get a spot when you need it”: Understanding parental knowledge and experiences of Canada’s new child care policy promoting access to quality early childhood education and care

Starting in 2021/2022, Canada implemented a new early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy, the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC). CWELCC aims to reduce the cost of child care to an average of $10CA/day. However, prior implementation of similar policies resulted in differential outcomes in terms of benefits received. The current mixed methods study examined 1341 parents’ knowledge and experiences with CWELCC. A total of 72.18 % of parents had heard about CWELCC, with the majority reporting information regarding reduction in cost. Benefits parents reported were largely around cost (41.98 %), while challenges were largely around access to full-time care (41.76 %). The most reported concerns were access and affordability. Concerns regarding affordability were related to increased anxiety (b = 0.40, SE = 0.13), whereas concerns about access and inclusion were related to depression (b = 0.35, SE = 0.16). Binary logistic regressions found differential knowledge and experiences with CWELCC based on family characteristics. For example, older parents and parents with higher income were less likely to have heard about CWELCC (OR = 1.07–1.19, 95 % CI [1.04–1.09, 1.10–1.30]). Employed parents were more likely to experience various benefits (OR = 1.69–2.14, 95 % CI [1.21–1.59, 2.39–2.75]). Differences were also found on knowledge, benefits, challenges, and concerns based on province, population density, and children’s characteristics. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.