April 25, 2022 Fredericton, New Brunswick Employment and Social Development Canada
Since 2015, the Government of Canada has delivered real improvements to make life more affordable from coast to coast to coast, including making a historic investment of $30 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in collaboration with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners.
Today, the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, along with the Honourable Dominic Cardy, New Brunswick's Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, announced that licensed child care fees for New Brunswick families with children under six years of age will be reduced by an average of 50%, starting June 1, 2022.
Today's announcement means that the governments of Canada and New Brunswick will meet their shared goal to reduce parent fees by an average of 50% six months ahead of schedule, resulting in New Brunswick families seeing an out-of-pocket reduction of approximately $3,900 annually per child in child care costs. This is a significant step in making progress toward providing families across the province with an average of $10-a-day child care by 2026.
Nearly all 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.
With signed agreements with all provinces and territories, 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 provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to make life more affordable for families and give children across the country an equal chance to succeed.
