Too many families across Canada lack access to high‑quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care. That is why the Government of Canada has laid out a plan to provide families in Canada with, on average, $10‑a‑day child care for children under six years of age by March 2026. This plan will make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents-especially mothers-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, along with the Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Tom Osborne, Minister of Education for Newfoundland and Labrador, were at St. John's Ches Penney Family YMCA to announce that the province has reached a $15-a-day fee for licensed child care, down from $25-a-day just last year. With this reduction, the province is exceeding the shared goal to reduce 2019 parent fees by an average of 50% by the end of 2022, resulting in families in Newfoundland and Labrador saving up to $5,090 annually per child.
Today's announcement means that the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are making child care more affordable for families in the province, working toward their goal of reaching an average of $10-a-day for licensed child care in 2023, two years ahead of schedule.
More than half of Canada's provinces and territories have announced the implementation of child care fee reductions, working toward the commitment under the Canada-wide early learning and child care agreements to reduce fees for licensed child care spaces by 50% on average by the end of 2022. The governments of Quebec and Yukon have already achieved an average cost of $10 a day or lower for regulated child care.
Minister Gould and Premier Furey also took the opportunity to announce that a pre-kindergarten pilot program will launch this year that will create additional regulated child care spaces. At full implementation, this province-wide program will create approximately 3,100 regulated spaces for four-year-olds by 2025-26, which will open up existing child care spaces for younger children.
The Canada-wide early learning and child care system is becoming a reality across the country. The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to make life easier and more affordable for families and give children across the country an equal chance to succeed.
