Deputy Prime Minister highlights new Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund in Vancouver
News release
July 6, 2023 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Department of Finance Canada
Today in Vancouver, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, highlighted how the new Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, first announced by the Prime Minister on June 28, 2023, will help public and not-for-profit child care providers deliver affordable child care for families by funding the cost of building more child care spaces.
As the federal government works towards making $10-a-day child care a reality for families across the country, it is creating an additional 250,000 child care spaces through existing agreements with provinces and territories. The new Fund will provide an additional $625 million to provinces and territories to create child care spaces in communities that currently do not have enough of them.
British Columbia is working towards reducing fees to an average of $10-a-day by 2026, and has already reduced fees for licensed child care spaces by 50 per cent on average—saving families an average of $6,600 this year.
The federal government’s plan is putting thousands of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking families, while also helping parents—particularly mothers—rejoin the workforce and grow our economy. As of May 2023, Canada’s labour force participation rate for women in their prime working years was a near-record high of 85.4 per cent—compared to 77.6 per cent in the United States.
Quotes
“Two years ago this July 8, British Columbia became the first signatory to our Canada-wide plan for affordable early learning and child care. Since then, fees in British Columbia have been reduced by 50 per cent, and BC is working towards delivering $10-a-day child care by 2026. With new federal investments through the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, we are helping more families here in BC and across Canada to access affordable child care and save thousands of dollars every year.”
- The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
“Today’s announcement highlights how the Government of Canada is ensuring that all children in Canada have the opportunity to benefit from our transformative investments in early learning and child care. By supporting infrastructure for child care centres that address the needs of underserved communities—like refugees and other newcomers to Canada, low-income families, and children who have additional support needs—we are building a more inclusive Canada-wide system of early learning and child care.”
- The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development
Quick facts
-
The Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund aims to address concerns from provinces and territories related to infrastructure funding for not-for-profit and public providers, including the cost of real estate and building materials. The Fund will exclusively support not-for-profit and publicly regulated early learning and child care providers, including those providing care during non-standard hours, in recognition of the specific challenges they face in financing capital costs.
-
The Fund will support child care spaces for underserved communities, including in rural and remote regions, high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities that face barriers to access, such as racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, as well as parents, caregivers, and children with disabilities.
-
A June 2023 report from TD Economics found that Canada-wide early learning and child care has helped the labour force participation rate among women with children under the age of six “surge by 4 percentage points, a pace more than double the three priors years”.
Related products
- Delivering on our promise of high-quality, inclusive, and affordable child care for families | Prime Minister of Canada (pm.gc.ca)
- $10 a day child care for Canadian families
- Budget 2021: A Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan
- Budget 2022: Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund
- Early Learning and Child Care Agreements
Contacts
Media may contact:
Katherine Cuplinskas
Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Katherine.Cuplinskas@fin.gc.ca
Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
mediare@fin.gc.ca
613-369-4000
General enquiries
Phone: 1-833-712-2292
TTY: 613-369-3230
financepublic-financepublique@fin.gc.ca
Stay connected
Page details
- Date modified: