Leave provisions fall under provincial labour legislation, while benefits are provided under the federal Unemployment Insurance Act. As a result of the availability of paid maternity and parental leave, parents usually do not require child care for infants under age 6 months but may return to work when the child is that age. This is the age when children are most vulnerable and most dependent on the adults for their safety, well-being, and development. Qu bec appears to be the only jurisdiction that has a requirement that child care services for school-aged children be provided. In that province, a school board must provide school-aged child care services if the school council requests it.
Most services operate as independent non-profit corporations.
The school boards provide rent-free space. As Table VIII points out, children aged 6-12 with mothers in the labour force are the most poorly served of any of the age groups, and the gap between available services and probable need is the greatest. It is estimated that in 1993 there were more than a million and a half school-aged children for whom a space was not available. This is a situation, which is contrary to the Canadian principle of equitable access to basic services regardless of the person's geographic location. Statistics Canada estimates of number of children with mothers in the paid workforce in 1993, Howard Clifford, Human Resources Development Canada, personal communication, January 1995.