Friendly, Martha - Centre for Global Social Policy

Martha Friendly is the executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, an independent policy research organization, which was part of the University of Toronto when she founded it in 1982. As a policy researcher, Martha is an active participant in the cross-Canada child care movement that has been advocating for a universal public system of high quality child care since the 1970s. She has authored many popular, academic and policy documents on child care including two books, book chapters, journal articles, reports and opinion pieces. She has received a number of honours for her work including the Queen’s Jubilee Diamond Medal, an honourary doctorate from Trent University in 2015 and the Charles Taylor Prize for Excellence In Policy Research in 2021. She was a member of the Expert Panel for the Minister of Employment and Social Development on early learning and child care.