Toward $10-a-day: An Early Learning and Child Care Backgrounder

In 2021, the Government of Canada announced an ambitious plan for a $10-a-day early learning and child care system across the country. As part of these investments, we are working with provinces and territories to reduce fees for regulated child care to an average of $10-a-day and create 250,000 new early learning and child care spaces by March 2026.

On March 6, 2025, the Government of Canada announced it had reached agreements with 11 of 13 provinces and territories to extend their current early learning and child care agreements until March 31, 2031. The extended agreements provide up to an additional $36.8 billion over five years (2026–27 to 2030–31) and include a three per cent funding increase every year for four years, starting in 2027-2028. Building on significant progress to date, these extended agreements will support continued access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care programs and services, ensuring that families will continue to have access to regulated child care for an average of $10-a-day after March 31, 2026. The three per cent funding escalator ensures that the early learning and child care system will remain sustainable over the duration of the agreements, while also providing flexibility for provinces and territories to respond to inflationary pressures.

Through these extensions, the Government of Canada is providing the following funding amounts to provinces and territories over five years (2026-2027 to 2030-2031) for early learning and child care investments:

Province/Territory: British Columbia 
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $5.38 billion

Province/Territory: Manitoba
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $1.9 billion

Province/Territory: New Brunswick
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $876 million

Province/Territory: Newfoundland and Labrador
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $503 million

Province/Territory: Northwest Territories
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $80 million

Province/Territory: Nova Scotia
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $1.05 billion

Province/Territory: Nunavut
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $109 million

Province/Territory: Ontario
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $16.77 billion 

Province/Territory: Prince Edward Island
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $199 million

Province/Territory: Quebec
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $9.83 billion

Province/Territory: Yukon
Funding (2026-2027 to 2030-2031): $74 million

Savings and affordability for families

Parents across the country have benefitted from significant savings:

• As of February 2025, eight provinces and territories are delivering regulated early learning and child care for an average of $10-a-day or less, and all other jurisdictions have reduced parent fees by at least 50%.
• Families of approximately 900,000 children are benefitting from affordable child care across the country thanks to the efforts of provincial, territorial and federal governments, with some families saving up to $16,200 per child, per year.

These savings are contributing to wide-ranging impacts on affordability and the Canadian economy:

• As a proportion of after-tax family income, parents’ average spending on child care in January 2025 was less than one third of what it was before 2021, declining from just under 16% to 5%.
• Similarly, as a proportion of the second earners’ after-tax income, parents’ spending has decreased from an average of nearly 40% of a second-earner's income to just under 13%.
• There has been a near 30% decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for child care services since the peak (March 2022).
• Labour market participation among working-age mothers with young children was up to 79.6% in 2023, an all-time high, from 75.8% in 2019.

Savings breakdown by province/territory as of February 2025[1]

Province/Territory: Alberta
Fee reductions: $15-a-day (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2] :  $13,700

Province/Territory: British Columbia
Fee reductions: 50% (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $10,800
 

Province/Territory: Manitoba
Fee reductions: $10-a-day (fixed)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $2,800

Province/Territory: New Brunswick
Fee reductions:  50% (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $3,600

Province/Territory: Newfoundland and Labrador
Fee reductions:  $10-a-day (fixed)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $6,300

Province/Territory: Northwest Territories
Fee reductions:  $10-a-day (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $9,120

Province/Territory: Nova Scotia
Fee reductions:  50% (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $6,000

Province/Territory: Nunavut
Fee reductions:  $10-a-day (fixed)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $16,200

Province/Territory: Ontario
Fee reductions:  50% (average)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $10,440

Province/Territory: Prince Edward Island
Fee reductions: $10-a-day (fixed)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $6,300

Province/Territory: Quebec
Fee reductions: Below $10-a-day prior to the Canada-wide agreement
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: Below $10-a-day prior to the Canada-wide agreement

Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Fee reductions: $10-a-day (fixed)
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts[2]: $6,900

Province/Territory: Yukon
Fee reductions: Below $10-a-day prior to the Canada-wide ELCC agreement
Estimated annual savings per child (gross, up to amounts)[2]: $8,400

Increased access for families

Under their Agreements, provinces and territories have committed to creating more than 250,000 new child care spaces across the country by March 2026. As of February 2025, provinces and territories have announced measures to create over 150,000 new child care spaces, representing a 16 percent increase for children aged 0-5 since 2019. 

Province/Territory: Alberta
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): Up to 68,700[4]
Spaces announced since 2021[3]:  31,400

Province/Territory: British Columbia
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 30,000
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 18,526

Province/Territory: Manitoba
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 23,000
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 10,050

Province/Territory: New Brunswick
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 3,400
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 3,400

Province/Territory: Newfoundland and Labrador
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 5,895
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 3,706

Province/Territory: Northwest Territories
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 300
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 85

Province/Territory: Nova Scotia
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 9,500
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 6,542

Province/Territory: Nunavut
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 238
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 128

Province/Territory: Ontario
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 76,700
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 33,000

Province/Territory: Prince Edward Island
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 1,725[5]
 Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 516

Province/Territory: Quebec
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 30,000[6]
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 26,983

Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 28,000
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 16,265

Province/Territory: Yukon
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 110
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 405

Totals
Space creation target (by March 31, 2026): 277,568
Spaces announced since 2021[3]: 151,006

To help support provinces and territories to reach their space creation targets, the recently announced extensions also include the final year (2026-2027) of the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, which supports infrastructure projects in underserved communities to increase inclusion in the Canada-wide early learning and child care system. These investments will include support for communities in rural and remote regions, for high-cost/low-income urban neighbourhoods, and for communities with barriers to access such as racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, and children, parents and employees with disabilities. Funding can also be used to support physical infrastructure for ELCC operators providing care during non-standard hours.

[1] Savings estimates as per Toward $10-a-day: Early Learning and Child Care - Canada.ca

[2] Estimated savings for ON, NS, NB, BC, PEI, SK, AB, NL, and NWT are provincial and territorial estimates. Remaining savings calculations (MB, YK, and NU) are illustrative ESDC estimates. All estimates are relative to 2019 levels unless updated data has been provided by provinces and territories. All estimates are based on out-of-pocket parent fees. Actual savings for families will vary based on factors such as actual fees paid prior to reductions. Provincial and territorial methodologies and data for calculating estimated savings may vary.

[3] Represents an ESDC calculation. 

[4] Total space creation commitment for AB is 68,700 spaces; however AB must create a minimum of 42,500 new not-for-profit spaces. In addition to the 42,500 not-for-profit spaces, AB may create up to 26,200 for-profit spaces between fiscal years 21/22 and 25/26.

[5] Total space creation target includes 452 spaces from 2021 to 2023 Canada-wide Action plan, 426 spaces from the Canada-wide 2023-2026 Action Plan and 847 spaces from the Infrastructure 2023-2026 Action Plan.

[6] Funding provided to Quebec can be used by the province to fund its priorities with respect to direct services to families. In the Canada-Quebec asymmetrical agreement on the Canada-wide ELCC component the province states as a priority the creation of over 30,000 subsidized spaces by 2023-2024 and 37,000 by 2024-2025.