Liberals move forward with $10 a day child care for families

A re-elected Liberal government will move forward with $10 a day child care to make life more affordable for Canadian families, Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday in Markham, Ontario.

The Liberal Party said that raising kids is expensive, and for too many families in Canada, early learning and child care is not accessible. The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it clear that without affordable child care, parents – especially women – can’t work. A Canada-wide early learning and child care system will not only support working parents and make life more affordable for families, it will also create jobs, strengthen our economy, and grow the middle class.

“Now more than ever, families need access to affordable child care,” said Trudeau. “We’ve already signed agreements with eight provinces and territories, covering nearly half of children under six in Canada – but Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives want to cancel our progress and take us backward. He won’t create a single child care space for families – and he wants to eliminate the spaces we’re creating in Quebec and across the country.”

A re-elected Liberal government will continue to support Canadian parents by:

  • Reducing fees for child care by 50 per cent in the next year;
  • Delivering $10 a day child care within five years everywhere outside of Quebec; and
  • Working with the province of Quebec to build on its world-class, affordable child care system, improve working conditions for educators, and create more spaces for families.

The Liberals said that this builds on the work that they have already done to make life more affordable for Canadian families since 2015, including:

  • Cutting taxes for the middle class by raising them on the wealthiest one per cent;
  • Giving more money to nine out of 10 Canadian families and helping lift more than 400,000 kids out of poverty with the Canada Child Benefit; and
  • Creating approximately 40,000 additional child care spaces.
“The last time a Liberal government brought forward an affordable child care plan, the NDP worked with the Conservatives and stopped it. We can’t let that happen again – Canadian families are depending on it,” said Trudeau. “In this important election, Canadians have a choice to make: Let Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives take us backward by eliminating child care spaces we’re creating and cancelling our progress, or move forward with a real plan to make life more affordable for families. Only our Liberal team will deliver $10 a day child care for everyone”

Backgrounder$10 a day Early Learning and Child Care