OTTAWA, ONTARIO, JULY 1, 2011—The Honourable Diane Finley, today marked the fifth anniversary of the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). The UCCB provides financial support to Canadian parents and demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to helping parents balance work and family life.
“Since 2006, the Government of Canada has been providing parents with choice in child care through the Universal Child Care Benefit,” said the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. “We have been supporting families and respecting their role in determining what’s best for their children.”
The UCCB provides families with $100 a month for every child under the age of six. It also provides over $2.6 billion annually to 1.5 million Canadian families for over 2 million young children. Since the launch of the UCCB five years ago, the Government has provided approximately $12.73 billion in direct funding to parents.
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This news release is available in alternative formats on request.
For further information (media only):
Ann Matejicka
Director of Communications
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
Government of Canada supports Canadian families
The federal government is committed to helping parents balance work and family life by providing them with real choices when deciding what is best for their children.
Helping families is a key priority for this government. In 2006, the Government of Canada introduced the Universal Child Care Plan, which includes the monthly Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), as well as financial support for the creation of child care spaces.
Payments are made directly to parents, who can then choose the child care option that best suits their needs.
The federal government is also investing in the creation of new child care spaces.
Since 2007, a 25‑percent investment tax credit for child care spaces is available to businesses that create new child care spaces for their employees, to a maximum of $10,000 per space created.
The Government also provides $250 million per year to the provinces and territories to help support the creation of new child care spaces across the country. Since this measure was introduced in 2007, many provinces and territories have announced plans for new child care spaces—over 102,000 so far. Others are improving the quality of their spaces or are making them more affordable.
This is in addition to $850 million that the provinces and territories already receive through the Canada Social Transfer in support of programs and services for young children, for a total of $1.2 billion this year alone.
For more information on the Universal Child Care Plan, please visit the following website: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/family/uccp/index.shtml.
