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, on Friday. “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.

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.

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 September 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

BACKGROUNDER
Even more $10 a Day ChildCareBC spaces in B.C. communities

The 25 additional child care centres now providing $10 a Day ChildCareBC spaces in B.C.

Houston – Houston Community Services Association

* Beanstalk Early Learning Centre – 48 spaces: 16 for 2.5 years to kindergarten; 24 for school-aged; eight multi-aged

Squamish – Sea to Sky Community Services Society

* Brackendale Childcare Program – 16 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

Surrey – Association of Neighbourhood Houses of British Columbia

* Alexandra Neighbourhood House Children’s Centre at Don Christian – 20 spaces: 12 for 2.5 years to kindergarten; eight multi-aged

Vancouver –

Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society

* Duke Street Early Learning and Care Centre; 32 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Sarah House Early Learning and Care Centre; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Terry Tayler Early Leaning and Care Centre; 37 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

Developmental Disabilities Association of Vancouver-Richmond

* Berwick Child Development Centre; 80 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Champlain Child Development Centre; 40 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Kids in General Child Development Centre; 56 spaces (24 infant-toddler, 32 2.5 years to kindergarten)

* Playhouse Child Development Centre; 20 infant-toddler spaces

UBC Child Care Services

* Acadia Day Care Centre; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Auklet Group Day Care; 24 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Barish Child Care Centre; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Caribou Child Care Centre; 16 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Kittiwake Group Daycare; 24 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Owl at the Barn; 16 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Pacific Spirit Child Care; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Pioggia Group Daycare; 16 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Raven Daycare; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Salal Group Daycare; 24 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Sandpiper Group Daycare; 24 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Saw-Whet Child Care Centre; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Summer of ’73 Daycare; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

* Tillicum Daycare; 25 spaces for 2.5 years to kindergarten

Young Women’s Christian Association

* Leslie Diamond Early Learning and Care Centre; 24 infant-toddler spaces