A new Lawson Foundation scan finds outdoor and land-based early learning stalls at the regulations

A new environmental scan commissioned by the Lawson Foundation, led by researchers Dr. Beverlie Dietze, Dr. Kelsey Robson and Dr. Melanie Manitowabi, maps the research, policy and professional landscape for outdoor and land-based early learning across all 13 provinces and territories.

Its central finding is what the authors call a four-way disconnect. Early learning frameworks champion outdoor and land-based learning as central to quality, yet the jurisdictions with standards of practice name no outdoor or land-based competencies, only about 7 percent of post-secondary early childhood education programs include outdoor or land-based courses, and licensing regulations still prioritize fencing, ground surfacing and line of sight over pedagogical intent.

The gap has real consequences. Because regulations are built for indoor, facility based programs, programs that run primarily outdoors often cannot meet the requirements, which can shut them out of licensing altogether and make them ineligible for Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care funding that flows through provincial licensing agreements.

The report is especially pointed about risk, noting that no Canadian jurisdiction has embedded a risk benefit assessment framework into its licensing rules despite a made in Canada toolkit built for exactly that purpose. It sets out four action pathways, from system alignment and regulatory reform to framework development and educator preparation, and points to international models showing that regulatory adaptation is achievable without compromising quality oversight.

Source: The Lawson Foundation – An Environmental Scan of Outdoor and Land-Based Early Learning in Canada