For too long, families have faced high monthly child care fees, long waitlists and too few high-quality child care options. That is why the Government of Canada is supporting the implementation of a Canada-wide early learning and child care system, giving children the best possible start and making life more affordable for families across Canada.
Today, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, were joined by federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, and British Columbia's Minister of State for Child Care, Katrina Chen, to announce that licensed child care fees for families with children 5 and under in British Columbia have been reduced by an average of 50% across the province.
Effective December 1, parents across British Columbia can now save on average up to $550 more per month for each child they have in licensed child care, representing an additional up to $6,600 in annual savings. This is on top of the existing savings of up to $350 per month per child introduced with the ChildCareBC plan in 2018, for a total of almost $900 of savings per month on average.
Additionally, since the inception of the Canada-wide agreement, British Columbia has converted 10,500 child care spaces into its $10-a-day program; this will increase to a total of 12,500 by early 2023. With the December fee reductions and the new spaces converted to the $10-a-day program so far this year, the governments of Canada and British Columbia will have achieved their shared goal to reduce licensed child care fees for children 5 and under in the province by an average of 50% by the end of this year.
Over the course of the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement - 2021 to 2026, British Columbia has committed to working toward a province-wide average of $10-a-day child care for children aged 0 to 5. Building a Canada-wide early learning and child care system that works for families in every region of the country is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to make life more affordable for families, while creating good jobs and growing the economy.
