BC Gov News

More families in British Columbia will save thousands of dollars every year as more than 700 child care spaces move into the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program.

These spaces will help reduce costs for families and further develop access to high-quality, affordable child care as a core service.

“For too long families have struggled to keep up with the high cost of child care,” said Premier David Eby who is also MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey. “As we’ve seen the cost of everything increase due to global inflation, this addition of more $10-a-day spaces will give families the kind of break they need, when they need it most.”

Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,120 a month for full-time, centre-based infant care to $200 a month for the same service, saving families an average of approximately $920 a month per child.

“Across the country, demand is high for affordable regulated child care spaces,” said Jenna Sudds, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “Today’s announcement is great news for families in B.C. and will help more families save hundreds of dollars each month. We look forward to continuing to work with the Province to make our common vision for a high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive Canada-wide early learning and child care system a reality.”

More spaces will be converted to the program over the next few weeks bringing B.C. closer to the goal of 15,000 $10 a Day ChildCareBC spaces by spring 2024.

“Hundreds of additional families throughout B.C. will be breathing a sigh of relief as their child care bills are cut by more than $10,000 on average per child, per year,” said Mitzi Dean, B.C. Minister of State for Child Care. “The ChildCareBC fee reductions and $10-a-day program are important ways we are making life more affordable for British Columbians, which benefits families, our communities and the economy as a whole.”

The $10-a-day program expansion represents further progress in partnership with the federal government under the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to support the goal of ensuring families can access high-quality, affordable and inclusive early learning and child care.

“Throughout my 15-year career as an early childhood educator (ECE) at UBC, I have always been a strong advocate for the $10-a-day plan,” said Lauren McCaughey, parent and ECE at UBC Child Care. “Over the years, my three children have attended UBC child care programs and having Salal daycare enter the $10-a-day program makes it easier for our family to budget monthly for the higher cost of groceries and other rising costs. We will also be able to begin saving more for our children's futures as they grow and learn.”

The newly approved $10-a-day spaces are offered at 25 child care centres throughout B.C., including Houston, Squamish, Surrey and Vancouver.

For this intake, government’s focus was to prioritize new $10-a-day facilities in communities that do not yet have access to the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program or have a low number of $10-a-day spaces compared to the region’s population density.

In additiion to the $10-a-day spaces, provincial and federal investments are helping approximately 128,000 families with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program through child care fee reductions of up to $900 per month per child. When combined with the Affordable Child Care Benefit, many families are paying $10 a day or less for child care, including those not participating in the $10 a Day program.

Since 2018, the Province has invested $3.9 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.

Quotes:

Carla Qualtrough, federal minister of Sport and Physical Activity –

“Throughout British Columbia, more families will now have access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive child care. By reducing child care costs through the $10-a-day program, we’re also helping parents and kids have more choices – like participating in recreational activities and sport and saving for the future. As a parent, I’m proud to see British Columbia leading the way to give families and children the best possible start in life.”

Joyce Murray, Member of Parliament for Vancouver-Quadra –

“Every child deserves the best possible start in life and all parents should be able to prioritize both a family and a career if they choose. Today, with the introduction of over 700 more $10-a-day child care spaces in British Columbia, many more families will have access to the high-quality, affordable child care, that will reduce family stresses and open new opportunities.”

Karen Vaughan, director, UBC Child Care –

“The $10 a Day ChildCareBC program ensures that UBC Child Care is able to continue to offer affordable, accessible and inclusive child care to the UBC community, thus enabling UBC to continue to attract and retain the highest quality students, staff and faculty from around the world. Equitable access to child care is critical in meeting UBC’s goals of increasing equity, diversity and inclusion and reducing barriers for historically underserved, marginalized or excluded families.”

Garry Begg, MLA, Surrey-Guildford –

“As global inflation continues to affect the cost of living, reducing the cost of child care helps bring down the pressure on more families in Surrey. I’m glad that our government is lowering monthly costs for parents that need it as every little bit helps them to raise their children.”

Quick Facts:

• Fee reductions were introduced in 2018 through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative and were further enhanced on Dec. 1, 2022, with federal funding support under the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
• Provincial investments are supporting school-aged fee reductions, which were introduced on Sept. 1, 2023.
• The Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB) is an income-tested provincial program providing up to $1,250 per month, per child, to help eligible low- and middle-income families with their child care costs.
  • Families making less than $45,000 per year may receive the maximum ACCB and pay nothing out of pocket for child care.
  • Families making as much as $111,000 per year may be eligible to receive additional child care support through ACCB.
• An average of 35,000 children received support through the Province’s ACCB each month so far in 2023-24.

Learn More:

For more information about affordable child care options through ChildCareBC, visit: https://www.gov.bc.ca/childcare

To apply for the ACCB, visit: http://www.gov.bc.ca/affordablechildcarebenefit

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

A backgrounder follows.