Outdoor play spaces in Canada: The safety dance of standards as policy

Abstract

Over the past decade the outdoor play spaces designed for children in Canada have been largely shaped by fear and profit, rather than by what we know about children's play and development. Since the early 1980s the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has played an increasingly important role in this transformation as their technical standards for children's outdoor play spaces have been gradually adapted as policy by local and regional agencies. While the CSA has historically regulated industrial and commercial projects that enable international trade and harmonization with countries such as the United States, their extension of influence to early childhood is problematic; particularly when applied to childcare centres. The following describes some of the issues that arise from the use of safety standards as policy, and the problems these standards cause when applied to childcare centres.