More families in Richmond will save thousands of dollars per year as eight local child care spaces convert to the $10-a-day program, helping familes get ahead and building high-quality, affordable and accessible child care as a core service in B.C.

“As a parent of young children, I understand the challenges many families face when it comes to high child care costs,” said Henry Yao, MLA for Richmond South Centre. “By saving families up to $800 a month per child, I know these $10-a-day spaces will make a real difference.”

Spaces in the $10-a-Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month at participating facilities (for full-time, centre-based infant care) to $200 a month, saving families an average of $800 a month per child.

“Our governments are making affordable, high-quality, flexible and inclusive child care a reality,” said Karina Gould, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “Through our transformative investments, we remain focused on making life more affordable for families and giving every child the best possible start in life.”

The $10-a-day program expansion represents further progress in partnership with the federal government under the Canada-B.C. Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. To support the goal of ensuring access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive early learning and child care, the Government of Canada is contributing $3.2 billion for child care in B.C. over five years through the agreement.

“As a new $10-a-day program, I feel deeply grateful for being a British Columbian and a child care provider,” said Jiacy Chen, manager, Kiddo House Child Care Centre. “We not only enjoy the beautiful view here but also provide quality and affordable child care services. I want to thank for our thoughtful government for this funding.”

The eight newly approved $10-a-day spaces at Kiddo House Child Care Centre in Richmond are infant-toddler spaces.

“It gives me immense pleasure, and I am sure other parents feel the same to see what you've achieved for all of us and our daycare,” said Saurabh Raina, parent of one child at Kiddo House Child Care Centre. “Thank you all so much.”

More $10-a-day spaces will be created over the next few months. By the end of the year, the program will expand the number of $10-a-Day ChildCareBC spaces available for families in B.C. from 6,500 in April to approximately 12,500.

“We doubled the number of $10-a-day spaces earlier this year and will be nearly doubling yet again by the end of 2022,” said Katrina Chen, B.C. Minister of State for Child Care. “Affordable child care can be life changing, and we’re one step closer to making that a reality for all families in B.C. The $10-a-day program and the significant fee reductions recently announced are both part of our plan to make child care a core service that every family can access and afford.”

In addition to these spaces, the Province, with federal funding support, is helping parents with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10-a-day program through child care fee reductions of up to $550 more per month per child. These savings are in addition to the $350 per month per child that families have been saving through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative since 2018, and approximately 69,000 families will benefit.

Since 2018, the Province has invested $2.7 billion in the 10-year ChildCareBC plan to build a future where affordable, inclusive and quality child care is a core service that families can rely on.

Quick Facts:

• All types of licensed child care providers offering services to children five and younger were eligible to apply for $10-a-day program, with priority given to larger non-profit, publicly delivered and Indigenous-led providers in communities that do not currently have a $10-a-day site, and also based on population density, which aligns with commitments in the Canada-B.C. Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
• The cut-off date for $10-a-day program applications was Aug. 18, 2022, and more applications will be reviewed until the December 2022 target is met.
• Families making as much as $111,000 may be eligible to receive additional child care support through the Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB), with those making less than $45,000 receiving the maximum ACCB funding amount and paying nothing for child care.
• An average of 30,500 children received support through the Province’s Affordable Child Care Benefit each month in 2021-22.
• As of Dec. 1, 2022, fee reductions through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative will increase from up to $350 per child per month to as much as $900 per child per month, for a total of up to $10,800 per year in savings.

Learn More:

For more information about existing $10-a-Day ChildCareBC sites and spaces, criteria, guidelines and priority areas under this intake, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare10aDaysites

For more information about ChildCareBC, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare

For more about the 2021-26 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement: https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/british-columbia-canada-wide-2021.html

For more information about Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care: https://canada.ca/child-care