The Canadian Paediatric Society's position (updated 2023): no routine screen time for children under 2, and less than 1 hour a day for ages 2–5 — with the quality and context of use mattering as much as the count. Its framework is four M's: minimize, mitigate, mindfully use, and model healthy screen habits. For licensed childcare, the practical translation is simple: screens have almost no place in a high-quality program day.
“How much is too much?” is the most common screen question parents ask — and Canada has an actual, current answer. Here it is without the noise.
The numbers
- Under 2: no routine screen time (video-chat with family is the accepted exception).
- Ages 2–5: less than 1 hour per day — and less is better.
The part people skip: the four M's
The CPS position is built less on the stopwatch and more on four practices: minimize (fewer, shorter, not in routines), mitigate (co-view, choose calm, age-appropriate content), mindful use (ask what the screen is displacing — sleep, play, conversation), and modelling (children adopt the screen habits they watch adults perform). The 2023 update kept these principles at the centre.
Why the under-5 years get the strict version
The position's reasoning: early childhood development runs on serve-and-return interaction, movement and sleep, and screen exposure in these years is associated with displacement of all three. The CPS frames screens as a thing to be budgeted against development, not banned with panic.
What this means in a daycare day
A high-quality licensed program already supplies what screens displace — peers, materials, outdoor time, conversation. That is why most strong programs are functionally screen-free for children and say so in their handbook: it is evidence-aligned, and it is a selling point.
What to do with this
Counting minutes is less useful than the four M's: keep screens out of routines (meals, bedtime, the car by default), co-view when screens are used, choose slow-paced content, and remember children copy what they see you do with your phone. Under 2, video-chatting grandma is the accepted exception.
In a program day rich with materials, peers and outdoor time, screens add little — the CPS position supports keeping them rare and purposeful. When you do use one (documentation, music, the odd video), narrate it: how adults use tools is itself the lesson.
A written screen policy is an easy trust-builder in your parent handbook: state what (if anything) screens are used for, and anchor it to the CPS position. It also answers the tour question every parent silently asks.
Sources
- Canadian Paediatric Society — Screen time and preschool children: promoting health and development in a digital world (2023) — cps.ca
- CPS (2017) — Screen time and young children, Paediatrics & Child Health (PMC) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Caring for Kids (CPS parent resource) — Screen use and young children — caringforkids.cps.ca
Every claim above is drawn from the linked sources. This article is general information, not medical or legal advice — for concerns about an individual child, talk to your paediatrician or family doctor.
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Start free — no card needed → See the live demoFrequently asked questions
- How much screen time is OK for a 3-year-old in Canada?
- The Canadian Paediatric Society advises less than one hour per day of screen time for children aged 2–5 — and emphasizes that content quality, co-viewing and context matter as much as the number.
- Is any screen time OK under age 2?
- The CPS advises no routine screen time under 2; live video-chat with family is the commonly accepted exception.
- Should daycares use screens at all?
- The CPS framework (minimize, mitigate, mindful use, modelling) supports keeping screens rare and purposeful in group care; most high-quality programs reserve them for documentation rather than children's viewing.