Feds Add $5.4B to Address 'Pressures' Facing $10-a-Day Child-Care Program

The federal government is injecting an additional $5.4 billion into Canada's national $10-a-day child-care program over the next two years. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu described the funding as a stabilizing measure for the program, which launched in 2021 with ambitious goals for reducing parent fees and creating hundreds of thousands of new child-care spaces.

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Certainly, money has been part of the challenge.

However, many provinces and territories have struggled to meet these targets amid increasing costs and demand. Hajdu acknowledged that financial challenges have been a significant hurdle, noting that the new flexible funding is intended to help provinces address their specific pressures. "We've already invested $58 billion to affordable child care across the country," she stated, emphasizing the government's ongoing commitment.

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We've already invested $58 billion to affordable child care across the country. This additional $5.4 billion is to reflect the additional cost pressures that provinces have been indicating, and that money that will be injected is flexible, so they can use it in the ways that will address their own specific pressures.

While several provinces have successfully reduced child-care fees to an average of $10 per day, five have not yet reached this goal. Ontario, where fees average $19 a day, has previously stated it requires an additional $2 billion annually to achieve the $10-a-day target. Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra expressed cautious optimism, stating he would reserve judgment on the new funding's adequacy until specific provincial allocations are detailed.

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Ontario has long been clear that current funding levels are not sufficient to support the long-term sustainability of the child care program. It is critical that the federal government provide an appropriate funding package by September in order to sustain the federal child care program in Ontario.

Alberta's Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides also welcomed the funding but is awaiting specifics, reiterating Alberta's goal of securing a long-term agreement that meets the province's needs while keeping fees affordable. Child-care advocates, who had expressed disappointment over a lack of new investment in the spring economic update, see this additional funding as a positive signal of the government's commitment to the universal child-care initiative.

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Alberta’s government will continue working to secure a long-term agreement that reflects Alberta’s needs while keeping fees predictable and affordable for families.