Education and Child Care
Families throughout British Columbia continue to benefit from government investments in child care, as more families gain access to $10-a-day spaces and new child care centre projects are funded.
“As we face economic threats and British Columbians struggle with rising costs, we are continuing to make critical investments in child care,” said Lisa Beare, B.C.’s Minister of Education and Child Care. “By increasing access to child care and saving families thousands of dollars per year, we’re helping hard-working British Columbians and securing a stronger future for our province today.”
More than $62 million is being invested to create more than 750 new licensed child care spaces throughout B.C. through the accelerated space-creation programs. Once operational, these spaces will be eligible for the government’s fee reduction program, ensuring affordability for families.
"As Langford continues to grow, ensuring affordable and high-quality child care spaces for families in our community remains a top priority,” said Scott Goodmanson, mayor of Langford, which received a New Spaces Fund grant. “We are grateful for the support from both the provincial and federal governments in addressing this need and helping us move forward. Partnerships like these are essential for achieving our shared goals.”
Additionally, between March 1 and April 1, 2025, families will benefit from 770 new $10-a-day spaces at 22 child care centres throughout B.C., including in Surrey, Parksville and Williams Lake.
“Communication Stars Specialized Childcare is excited to be part of the $10 a Day ChildCare BC program,” said Noreen Simmons, executive director, BC Family Hearing Resource Society. “We will be able to continue delivering a high-quality bilingual program, in English and American Sign Language, that supports the needs of the children we serve. That ensures our parents are less stressed because they have access to affordable, quality care.”
For this investment, the 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 and/or providers who serve low-income areas. Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care for children five and younger from $1,115 a month for full-time, centre-based care to $200 a month for the same service, saving families an average of approximately $915 a month per child.
“The $10-a-day savings will make a big impact on our family,” said Ami, a parent. “We thank Communication Stars Specialized Childcare and my child’s teachers for providing a language-rich program for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and the $10-a-day program for helping ensure families like ours can continue receiving high-quality, affordable, specialized child care.”
These investments in the creation of new licensed child care spaces and the ongoing growth of $10-a-day child care in communities throughout B.C. represent further progress in partnership with the federal government. The Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement supports the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program, the New Spaces Fund and additional funding through the federal 2025-26 Child Care Infrastructure Fund to support the creation of new child care spaces.
Since 2018, the Province and Government of Canada have invested nearly $8 billion through ChildCareBC to build a future where access to affordable, high-quality and inclusive child care is a core service that families can rely on. This has resulted in more than 40,000 new child care spaces funded – more than 23,000 of which are open – and more than 16,000 $10-a-day child care spaces throughout B.C.
Quotes:
Rohini Arora, parliamentary secretary for child care –
“By investing in child care and raising families up, our government is making a real difference in people’s lives. Child care is critical for parents, especially mothers to be able to work, study and pursue opportunities which, in turn, is good for our communities and B.C.’s economy.”
Jagrup Brar, MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood –
“I am pleased to see that more families in Surrey will be saving thousands of dollars each year, as three more child care centres move into the $10-a-day program. These savings will help hard-working people stretch their budgets further and help make our community stronger and more resilient.”
Learn More:
For more information about affordable child care options through ChildCareBC, visit: 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
Three backgrounders follow.
