As Canada prepares to close the book on the Justin Trudeau era, some will be happy to watch him go. But in Canada’s haste to see him out the door, let’s not forget his government’s significant achievements.

His strong performance in the ongoing showdown with United States President Donald Trump, for example, may have led Canadians to view him in a distinctly more positive light.

But what’s undoubtedly been his single greatest achievement — prodded in no small part by the NDP — was the introduction of a national child-care program: The Canada Wide Early Learing and Child Care (CWELCC) system, colloquially known as $10-a-day child care.

As scholars of social policy — as well as a mother and grandfather — we believe this program is the biggest improvement to Canada’s welfare state since the initial implementation of medicare in 1966-67, updated via the Canada Health Act in 1984.

Somehow, however, amid all the negative Trudeau headlines, this major contribution has been seemingly forgotten.

Gender equality

Trudeau’s child-care program is a massive advancement for gender equality. and should be celebrated by all women, parents and — more broadly — people who care about reducing social inequalities.

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By freeing parents — mostly women — from the need to stay home with their children or from having to rely on ageing and often frail grandparents, evidence suggests Canada will experience substantial benefits to children, parents and society as a whole.

The program allows highly skilled and motivated workers to join the paid labour force and could also affect fertility decisions in some cases if, for example, families decide to have more children due to reduced child-care costs.

Just as importantly, formal child care benefits children developmentally, particularly in the case of disadvantaged and single-parent households.

In purely fiscal terms study after, study shows that a dollar invested in child care yields a greater financial return over a lifetime than any other expenditure of public funds.