History of Early Child Development in Canada

1582 Words7 Pages
History of Early Child Development in Canada The development of early childcare programs in Canada was influenced by a variety of circumstances and events due to rapid growth of immigration, urbanization and industrialization. In 1830, many infant schools started to operate in Halifax, Canada by factory owners to care for children of poor mothers who worked in their factories. These infant schools followed the philosophy of Robert Owen who believed in early education for children. Some of these schools continued into 1870 due to some beliefs about motherhood and Victorian attitudes. In the mid 19th century, the early childcare centres were established to help mothers that had to work to support their poor families in Montreal and Toronto. These centres were funded by churches, Canadian urban centres and other charitable organizations. They were called salles d'asile, crèche or nurseries. In 1850, the Roman Catholic nuns opened the first crèche in Montreal. Then, they established many salle d'asile to care for children of working poor and rich families. In 1857, the first English crèche, the Public Nursery was established by a group of wealthy women in Toronto to provide care for infants. After that, crèches or nurseries programs increased rapidly across English-Speaking Canada to provide care for young children of working mothers, poor mothers or those who were unable to care for their children. In 1887, The English-Speaking Day Nursery program in Montreal was opened. Then in the next 20 years, many crèches opened in Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax. These programs were funded by churches, private charities, and other charitable organization and sponsored by well to do women volunteers or by settlement houses. Mothers were asked to pay a small part of the cost while the government involvement in funding these programs was very small and insufficient.

More about History of Early Child Development in Canada

Open Document