Lower Child Care Fees For British Columbia Families

B.C to reduce fees by 50% come December 2022

Too many families across Canada lack access to affordable, inclusive and high‑quality child care. That is why the Government of Canada has laid out a plan to provide parents in Canada with, on average, $10‑a‑day child care for children under six years old. This plan will make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents—especially women—back into the workforce and grow the middle class, while giving every child a real and fair chance at success.

Today, the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, joined the Honourable Katrina Chen, British Columbia’s Minister of State of Child Care, and the Honourable Jennifer Whiteside, British Columbia’s Minister of Education and Child Care, to announce that child care fees for thousands of families in British Columbia will be reduced by an average of 50 % by December 2022.

The Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia will provide funding to licensed child care centres throughout the province to help parents save up to an additional $550 per month, or up to an additional $6,600 annually, for each child under six they have in licensed child care. This support will lower out-of-pocket costs for families of approximately 69,000 children accessing inclusive, high-quality child care from participating child care providers that are working with the Government of British Columbia to make child care more affordable for families.

“The Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement that we signed just over a year ago puts families first, and will ensure every child has access to high-quality, affordable, accessible child care. With hundreds of dollars in savings, this investment will provide much-needed support to reduce the cost of living for families with young children. Our government remains focused on making life more affordable for families and giving every child the best possible start in life.” – Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould

“For too long, child care wasn’t treated as a necessity and, through our ChildCareBC plan, we’re making progress on making child care a core service that families can depend on. We know child care is one of the biggest bills many families face each month. By significantly cutting child care fees for families again, we are putting more money back into their pockets.” – Minister of State for Child Care in British Columbia, Katrina Chen

This is an important step in reducing child care fees for British Columbia families. By the end of the year, through support from the 2021–2026 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, B.C. will nearly double the number of spaces in the $10-a-Day program to 12,500. Together with the fee reductions, more than 20,000 children will be attending high-quality $10‑a‑day child care throughout the province. Over the course of their current five-year agreement, British Columbia has committed to working with the Government of Canada towards achieving a province-wide average of $10-a-day child care for children under six.

The time for a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system is now. The Government of Canada will continue to work with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners across the country to ensure that all families have access to affordable, inclusive and high‑quality early learning and child care no matter where they live.

/Public Release. The views expressed are the author’s opinion. To view it in full, please click here.