Milestone reached in newly funded child care spaces for British Columbia families

May 2, 2022      Langley, British Columbia                   Employment and Social Development Canada

Child care is not just a social policy-it is an economic policy, too. Access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care will grow our economy, allow more women to enter the workforce and help give every Canadian child the best start in life. While cutting child care fees is important, it is just one part of the equation. That is why the governments of Canada and British Columbia have been working together to increase the number of licensed child care spaces available in the province.

Today, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, on behalf of Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, joined Minister of State for Child Care in British Columbia, Katrina Chen, at Cookie Monster Preschool to celebrate that British Columbia has surpassed 30,500 new child care spaces funded since the launch of ChildCareBC in 2018. By March 2026, British Columbia families will have benefitted from the creation of approximately 60,000 new licensed spaces for all ages of child care since 2018, through provincial and federal support-this will rise to approximately 70,000 by March 2028.

The Government of Canada has now signed agreements with every province and territory to deliver on its promise to build a high-quality Canada-wide affordable and inclusive early learning and child care system. As part of the agreement with the Government of British Columbia, the Government of Canada will invest $3.2 billion over five years to help improve regulated early learning and child care for children under 6 years of age in the province.

Building a child care system that works for Canadians in every region of the country is a key part of the plan to make life more affordable for families while creating good jobs and growing the economy. As part of the agreements, the Government of Canada aims to create approximately 250,000 new child care spaces across the country by March 2026 to give families affordable child care options, no matter where they live.

This plan is already making life more affordable for families. Nearly all of Canada's provinces and territories have already seen reductions in child care fees and, by the end of 2022, average fees for regulated early learning and child care spaces will be cut in half across the country.