Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

How $10-a-day child care is rolling out in Canada

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 Dec, 2022 01:52 PM
  • How $10-a-day child care is rolling out in Canada

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Families in Nunavut are now paying an average of $10 a day for child care, the first jurisdiction to achieve the goal under a Canada-wide plan.

The federal government has signed agreements with every province and territory, aiming to reduce child-care fees by an average of 50 per cent by the end of 2022 and to $10 a day by 2026.

Here is how the program is rolling out across the country.

Nunavut signed a $66-million agreement in January with plans to reach $10 a day by March 2024 and create 238 new spaces by the end of March 2026.

But the territory is ahead of schedule, implementing $10-a-day as of Thursday. It has also created 30 new spaces.

Northwest Territories signed a $51-million agreement in December 2021 with plans to create 300 new child-care spaces and reach $10 a day by March 2026. The territory said fees have already decreased by an average of 50 per cent with families saving up to $530 a month per child.

It has also created 67 new spaces during the last fiscal year.

Yukon started its own universal child care program in April 2021 and reached the $10-a-day average before signing a nearly $42-million agreement in July 2021.

The territory aimed to create 110 new spaces within five years and said it has created 236 spaces since April 2021.

British Columbia was the first to sign on, inking a $3.2-billion deal in July 2021 with plans to create 30,000 new child-care spaces within five years and 40,000 within seven years.

B.C. started a $10-a-day program at select facilities in 2018 and plans to double those spaces to 12,500 this month. As of Nov. 1, there were more than 8,200.

The province said starting Thursday, child-care fees will be 50 per cent less on average compared to 2019 at participating facilities due to expansion of the $10-a-day program and a fee-reduction initiative.

Alberta signed a nearly $3.8-billion deal inNovember 2021 with plans to create 42,500 spaces.

The province said as of September, it has created 9,500 spaces and, since January, child-care fees have dropped an average of 50 per cent.

Saskatchewan signed a nearly $1.1-billion deal with plans to create 28,000 new spaces.

As of Sept. 1, fees have been reduced an average of 70 per cent compared to March 2021 levels.

The province has created 3,402 new spaces, plus 1,166 child-care spaces in family and group family homes.

Manitoba signed a more than $1.2-billion deal in August 2021 with plans to create 23,000 new spaces by 2026 and 1,700 extended-hour spaces for evenings and weekends.

It aims to reach $10 a day by 2023.

Ontario was the last to sign on in March. It is to receive $10.2 billion over five years, plus $2.9 billion in 2026-27 with plans to create 86,000 new spaces.

The province said 33,000 new spaces have been created so far.

Quebec signed an agreement in August 2021 with the federal government committing to transfer nearly $6 billion over five years.

In 2021, parents with a subsidized, reduced contribution space paid $8.50 a day for childcare.

New Brunswick signed a $491-million deal in December 2021 to create 3,400 new spaces by the end of March 2026, including 500 by March 2023.

The province says fees were reduced by 50 per cent in June, and 401 spaces have been created since April 1.

Nova Scotia signed a $605-million agreement with plans to create 4,000 new spaces within two years and 9,500 by 2026.

By the end of this month, it said fees will be 50 per cent lower on average compared to 2019.

Prince Edward Island signed a $121.3-million deal with plans to create 452 spaces within two years and reach $10 a day by 2024. In January 2022, fees were reduced from $27 to $34 per day to an average of $25, then further dropped to $20 a day in October.

Newfoundland and Labrador signed a $347-million agreement to reduce fees from $25 a day in January 2021, to $15 a day in 2022, then $10 a day in 2023. It aims to create 5,895 spaces within five years.

MORE National ARTICLES

SFU Surrey getting a new medical school to train doctors

SFU Surrey getting a new medical school to train doctors
Ten days after being sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, David Eby was at SFU’s Surrey campus to announce $4.9 million in start-up funding for the medical school on Monday and to share some of the first details about the school, which is aiming to accept it first students by September 2026.  

SFU Surrey getting a new medical school to train doctors

Man allegedly assaulted several strangers before brandishing a weapon: VPD

Man allegedly assaulted several strangers before brandishing a weapon: VPD
Witnesses told police the man slapped a woman, assaulted a cyclist, then tried to attack someone who was walking amongst a group of people outside Nester’s Market. He also allegedly tried to start a fight near the Metropole Pub and brandished a weapon before being confronted by police.

Man allegedly assaulted several strangers before brandishing a weapon: VPD

Trudeau: Chinese protesters deserve free speech

Trudeau: Chinese protesters deserve free speech
Crowds in China angered by the anti-virus controls have called on leader Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades. The regime has eased some of its strict controls after demonstrations in at least eight mainland cities as well as Hong Kong.  

Trudeau: Chinese protesters deserve free speech

Amanda Todd's harasser returned to the Netherlands

Amanda Todd's harasser returned to the Netherlands
Canada's Justice Department says Aydin Coban was taken back to his home country on Nov. 24, where he will continue serving a nearly 11-year sentence imposed by a Dutch court in 2017 for similar crimes involving more than 30 youth.

Amanda Todd's harasser returned to the Netherlands

BoC posts first quarterly loss in its history

BoC posts first quarterly loss in its history
The Bank of Canada's aggressive interest rate hikes this year have raised the cost of interest charges it pays on settlement balances deposited in the accounts of big banks. That's while the income the central bank receives from government bonds it holds remains fixed.  

BoC posts first quarterly loss in its history

Use of plastic straws, grocery bags already down

Use of plastic straws, grocery bags already down
The Canadian government is looking to curb domestic plastic pollution by the end of the decade as negotiations toward a formal plastics management treaty begin this week in Uruguay. Canada is one of nearly three dozen countries lobbying heavily for an international agreement that would end global plastic pollution by 2040.

Use of plastic straws, grocery bags already down