Education and Child Care
Thousands more families in B.C. will save thousands of dollars per year as more than 2,450 more child care spaces moved into the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program in December.
These spaces will help reduce costs for families in British Columbia and further develop high-quality, affordable and accessible child care as a core service in B.C.
“We doubled the number of $10-a-day spaces earlier this year and continue our work to nearly double yet again by the end of 2022, with more than 2,450 spaces added this month alone,” said Katrina Chen, 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.”
Spaces in the $10-a-day program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month for full-time, centre-based infant care to $200 a month for the same service, saving families an average of approximately $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.”
More spaces will be added over the next few weeks with the number expanding from 6,500 in April to approximately 12,500 by February 2023.
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.
“Going from child care expenses of over $1,300 to only $200 per month for our youngest child is a huge savings for us and it will make a world of difference for parents with more than one child in child care,” said Colleen Nitta, a parent of a child attending Bowling Green Road Children's Centre in Richmond. “As the $10-a-day benefit is rolled out, I believe it will have a positive impact on our society. We'll likely see a reduction in household debt and overall poverty, and an increase in the number of women joining the workforce.”
The newly approved $10-a-day spaces are being offered at 61 child care centres throughout B.C., bringing the total number of $10-a-day spaces to more than 10,500.
“We are pleased to be entering the $10-a-day program for all six of our Richmond centres on behalf of our families,” said Nicky Byres, executive director, Society of Richmond Children's Centres. “We know this move will be life changing for many, and we look forward to continuing to work with the government on all aspects of the child care system to support the success of $10-a-day plan.”
In addition to these spaces, the Province, with federal funding support, is helping approximately 69,000 families 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, which began Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, are in addition to the $350 a month per child that families have been saving through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative since 2018.
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 upon.
Quick Facts:
- All types of licensed child care providers offering services to children five and younger were eligible to apply for the $10-a-day program, including non-profit, private, publicly run and Indigenous-led providers.
- Additional consideration is given to providers in communities that do not currently have a $10-a-day site, and is based on population density.
- The cutoff date for $10-a-day program applications was Aug. 18, 2022.
- More applications will be reviewed until the target of 12,500 spaces 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 people making less than $45,000 receiving the maximum ACCB funding amount and paying nothing for child care.
- An average of 28,500 children received support through the Province’s Affordable Child Care Benefit each month in 2021-22.
Learn More:
For 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 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 information about Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care, visit: https://canada.ca/child-care
A backgrounder follows.
