THE BC Liberals announced on Friday that they will implement a $1 billion plan to bring $10-a-day child care to low-income families and affordable child care for families who need it most.

They said: “Unlike the fake promise of $10-a-day child care by John Horgan and the NDP three years ago, the BC Liberals are presenting a real plan that B.C. parents can count on.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit low-income families harder than most, which is why $10-a-day child care now, not later — on top of eliminating the PST for one year — will mean huge savings for those who need it most,” said BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson. “John Horgan’s fake promise to parents was never going to happen. Under our billion dollar BC Liberal investment, we will provide $10 a day child care spaces for low-income families and affordable child care for families who need it most.”

Under the BC Liberal plan, families with annual household incomes of up to $65,000 will have access to $10-a-day child care and there will be stepped rates for families with incomes up to $125,000.

Only 2 per cent of child care spaces in B.C. are currently offered at the $10-a-day rate after Horgan himself admitted it was simply “a slogan” after the 2017 election campaign, said the BC Liberals.

“Parents and kids who need child care now will have already graduated high school by the time the NDP’s promised plan actually kicks in,” said Wilkinson. “Unlike John Horgan and the NDP, who are bribing parents with fake promises, our fully-costed plan will make sure those who need affordable child care actually get it.”

A similarly subsidized child care program in Quebec saw government revenues from income taxes of parents back in the workforce, mostly women, covered more than 100 percent of the program’s cost. The BC Liberals also noted their plan to create thousands of new child care spaces will be announced in the coming days.

A BC Liberal Government will:

• Implement a $1.1 billion income-tested child care plan to deliver:
  • $10-a-day for families with annual household incomes up to $65,000;
  • $20-a-day for families with annual household incomes up to $90,000; and
  • $30-a-day for families with annual household incomes up to $125,000.
• Implement a new, online province-wide electronic application that is voluntary for parents and required for all providers receiving government funding. A parent will have the option to reject an invitation for an available space and wait for the next one.
• Encourage and support a variety of non-profit and market-based child care providers.
• Expand access to before-and-after school care in schools and create incentives for employers to support child care options for their employees.
• Work collaboratively with the federal government to further expand child care options.
• Expand training and support for better-qualified child care workers.
• Replace the Minister of State for Child Care with a full Ministry of Child Care to manage licencing, funding, and oversight.