September 10, 2025
We're excited to let everyone know that SCARP Assistant Professor Andi Binet teamed up with several SCARP students to evaluate child care plans produced by BC municipalities:
Planning for Universal Child Care: An Evaluation of BC Municipal Child Care Plans
By:
 | Dr. Andi Binet, Assistant Professor, UBC SCARP |
 | Arunima Saha, PhD student, UBC SCARP |
 | Jake Lam, MCRP class of 2025, UBC SCARP |
 | Dalia Al Hussaini, MCRP class of 2025, UBC SCARP |
 | Isabelle Español, MCRP class of 2025, UBC SCARP |
 | Erin Roberts, BoA (Environment & Sustainability, minor in Urban Studies), UBC |
Abstract:
In 2018, responding to pressure from local governments and advocacy groups, British Columbia launched a provincial effort to build a universal $10/day child care system. As part of this effort, grants were issued to municipalities to support the development of municipal child care plans. In this paper, we conduct a plan evaluation analysis of 48 child care plans created by B.C. municipalities to characterize this emerging form of planning and understand initial strengths and areas for improvement. Our findings highlight common strategies for child care expansion, as well as areas for improvement in identifying and addressing current inequities. We conclude with lessons for other jurisdictions across Canada where local-level planning will be involved in facilitating child care expansion.
Binet et al's findings showed room for improvement in comprehensive planning for potential inequities, and fleshed out ideas for what valuable questions to ask moving forward.
Binet says about this research:
Our analysis gives us a valuable snapshot of novel local-level planning efforts to respond to the childcare crisis and contribute to the goal of a universal child care system in Canada. It reveals strengths in current approaches, for example using zoning and land use planning tools to create new childcare spaces, while also identifying priorities for the future, such as enhancing how we plan for equitable access to childcare for all. These efforts encourage us to think more expansively about how urban planning might be able to better support caregiving across the lifecourse.
Childcare access/equity as "an emerging form of Planning"
As Binet et al detail in their paper:
"About half of young Canadian children live in “child care deserts” where there are three or more children for every licensed child care space; this gap is wider in most major cities... The contemporary crisis of care poses a major challenge to equity and livability in cities around the world, and has prompted urban planners, policymakers and scholars to explore how planning tools and strategies can alleviate the crisis of care and foster more caring cities."
These findings also call attention to the need for investments in planning, to support the capacity and coordination needed to fully realise the goal of a universal child care system:
“Community and regional planning will be crucial to realizing the social policy goal of creating enough child care spaces and filling equity and access gaps in the system.”
Dr. Binet and collaborators from UBC, Simon Fraser University, University of Manitoba, and the Union of BC Municipalities are embarking on a longer-term study of local-level child care planning strategies underway in BC municipalities, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. We're delighted to keep you up to date on new developments of this crucial research endeavour. As Binet et al conclude in their paper:
Community and regional planning will be crucial to realizing the social policy goal of creating enough child care spaces and filling equity and access gaps in the system.
More about SCARP Assistant Professor Andi Binet (they/them)
Dr. Binet’s research explores the intersections of urban planning and health equity, with a feminist focus on care and social reproduction in cities. They are currently leading a multi-year study of childcare planning in BC, and since 2015 they have co-led the Healthy Neighborhoods Study, a Participatory Action Research project exploring the relationship between urban development and community health in Boston, MA.
More about SCARP PhD student Arunima Saha (she/hers)
Arunima’s research integrates childcare into urban planning while empowering caregivers and children to manage their wellbeing through equitable access to supportive care infrastructure. She aims to develop theories of socio-spatial care planning strategies, fostering a global movement toward care-oriented, healthy cities.
A thriving research collaborative at UBC SCARP
UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning is a leader in both education and research. Whether hired as Graduate Academic Assistants or participating in a partnership for part of a course, there are exciting opportunities to be a part of UBC SCARP's good works and to expand your portfolio and network.