ChildCareBC’s New Spaces Fund open for new applications (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Ministry of Education and Child Care

Government Communications and Public Engagement
778 974-5825

Mohammad Hussain

Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould
Mohammad.a.Hussain@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Backgrounders

Facts about funding child care
  • The 2022-23 New Spaces Fund intake includes $292 million in combined provincial and federal investments, including $178.7 million for 0-5 year old child care spaces through the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and, provincially, $83.7 million in base funding for 0-5 years and an additional $30 million for school-aged child care spaces.
  • The Government of Canada made a transformative investment to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in partnership with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners.
  • To support the goal of ensuring families’ access to quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care, the Government of Canada is contributing $3.2 billion for child care in British Columbia over five years through the 2021-22 to 2025-26 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
  • This is in addition to more than $323 million provided through the 2021–22 to 2024–25 Canada–British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
  • Through provincial and federal support since the start of ChildCareBC, B.C. families will benefit from the funding of approximately 60,000 new licensed child care spaces by March 2026. This will rise to approximately 70,000 by March 2028.
  • Participating in the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI) is required of New Spaces Fund recipients and it means parents of children aged five and under will save up to $350 per month per child. These savings will further increase by the end of this year when rates are reduced by an average of 50% from 2019 levels.
  • In 2021-22, fee reductions were approved for more than 69,000 child care spaces at more than 3,600 child care facilities in B.C. through CCFRI.
  • More than 30,500 children receive support through the Province’s Affordable Child Care Benefit every month. Parents making less than $45,000 can receive 100% funding and those making as much as $111,000 can receive partial funding.
2022-23 New Spaces Fund evaluation criteria

The intake for the 2022-23 ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund opened on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, and will accept applications until January 2023. Applications will be evaluated against criteria set out in the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund guidelines to align with provincial priorities and with federal direction outlined in the 2021-22 to 2025-26 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to focus on spaces that are run by public and non-profit organizations. All applications will be reviewed in the order they are received, and timelines may vary depending on application completeness, project complexity and cost considerations. This year features an open intake and priority will be given to creation of infant/toddler and school age spaces.

Priority areas include organizations creating:

  • infant-toddler child care spaces
  • school-age spaces
  • spaces serving priority populations including:
    • low-income families
    • children with support needs
    • Indigenous children and families
    • francophone children
    • Black and other children and families of colour
    • families new to Canada
    • young parents (25 and younger)
  • spaces co-located with other community or family services, such as on school grounds (including K-12 and public post-secondary)
  • fully inclusive and accessible child care spaces that allow children of all abilities to participate meaningfully (i.e., accessible physical design and application of program inclusion policy)
  • projects with a provincial cost per space of $40,000 or less

A new stream of funding for School Age Care on School Grounds is available for:

  • school districts
  • First Nation schools
  • First Nation independent schools
  • not-for-profit independent schools

Media Contacts

Ministry of Education and Child Care

Government Communications and Public Engagement
778 974-5825