Kids First Parent Association of Canada

The Kids First Parent Association of Canada is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the well-being of children and advocating for parental choice and equity in child care funding. Established in 1987, the association emphasizes the importance of parent-child attachment as fundamental to child development and challenges policies that marginalize family-based caregiving.

History and Background

Founded initially as the Kids First Parent Association of Calgary in Alberta, the organization registered as a nonprofit society in Alberta before transferring its registration to British Columbia in January 2020. Since its inception, Kids First has been led by volunteer members committed to raising awareness about the often overlooked discrimination against family-based child care providers, predominantly mothers, within legislation and public policy.

The association has highlighted systemic biases found in definitions of child care excluding family care, limitations in recognizing unpaid care work in economic measures, unequal child care subsidies, tax policy discrepancies, and shortcomings in social assistance programs. It aims to represent the majority of families—about 90%—who do not rely on daycare services[3].

Objectives and Advocacy

Kids First Parent Association advocates for equitable child care funding that respects parental caregiving choices and supports children's developmental needs based on established psychological principles. The organization takes a firm stance on eliminating preferential funding for non-parental child care, proposing consolidation of all child care-related funding into a universal child benefit to better support families directly.

Their approach stresses that true human capital formation requires parental involvement that cannot be supplanted by workforce attachment policies. The association maintains that ignoring these developmental necessities contributes to unsustainable societal costs, including declining birth rates[2].

Activities and Impact

Over the years, the association has engaged in various advocacy efforts including presentations before government committees, meetings with politicians, national petitions, public demonstrations, and media appearances to advance its mission. Notably, in 1993, the association participated in a successful legal challenge before the Income Tax Court of Canada addressing discriminatory tax laws against family caregivers.

Kids First remains a non-sectarian, non-partisan, volunteer-driven organization that receives no funding from government bodies, corporations, or unions, emphasizing grassroots support for parental rights and child welfare[2][3][4].

Philosophy

The association upholds the view that parents are the best advocates and caregivers for their children, echoing the developmental psychology concept that secure parent-child attachment is vital for the healthy growth of children. It promotes gender equality in caregiving roles and supports informed parental choice in all matters relating to child care and early childhood development[1][4].

Business Registration Number: 887489060RR0001

[1] https://kidsfirstcanada.org [2] https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/411/FINA/WebDoc/WD5138047/411_FINA_PBC2011_Briefs/Kids%20First%20Parent%20Association%20of%20Canada%20E.pdf [3] https://kidsfirstcanada.org/history/ [4] https://kidsfirst1.tripod.com [5] https://childrenfirstcanada.org/who-we-are/