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More $10-a-day child care spaces added in region
More than 1,375 child care spaces moved into the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program as the calendar turned to 2023.
Spaces in the $10-a-day program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month for full-time, centre-based infant care to $200 a month for the same service, saving families an average of $800 a month per child, a Ministry of Education and Child Care and Ministry of Families, Children and Social Development media release noted.
The newly approved $10-a-day spaces are being offered at 35 child care centres throughout B.C., including four in the East Kootenay, bringing the total $10 a Day spaces in B.C. to almost 12,000.
More spaces will be added during the coming weeks to meet the goal of 12,500 spaces by February 2023.
“Affordable child care can be life-changing, and with these new $10-a-day spaces, we continue our work to make life more affordable for families with more spaces converted in the next few weeks,” said Grace Lore, B.C.’s Minister of State for Child Care.
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 access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive early learning and child care, the Government of Canada is contributing $3.2 billion for child care in B.C. through March 2026.
Local spaces included in the $10-a-day program:
- BCG Cranbrook; 36 spaces (12 infant-toddler, 24 2.5-years-to-kindergarten-age spaces), non-profit.
- Little Summit Daycare (Cranbrook); 28 spaces (12 infant-toddler, 16 2.5-years-to-kindergarten-age spaces), non-profit.
- Second Steps Group Day Care (Kimberley); 16 2.5-years-to-kindergarten-age spaces, non-profit.
• Windermere Valley Childcare; 82 spaces (12 infant-toddler, 25 2.5 2.5-years-to-kindergarten-age, 20 preschool, 25 school-age), non-profit.
In addition to these spaces, the province, with federal funding support, is helping approximately 69,000 families with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10-a-day program through child care fee reductions of as much as $900 per month per child. Fee reductions were introduced in 2018 through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative and were further enhanced on Dec. 1, 2022.
All types of licensed child care providers offering services to children five and younger were eligible to apply for the $10-a-day program, including non-profit, private, publicly run and Indigenous-led providers. Additional consideration is given to providers in communities that do not currently have a $10-a-day site and is based on population density.
Families making less than $45,000 receive the maximum Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB) and pay nothing out of pocket for child care.
Families making as much as $111,000 may be eligible to receive additional child care support through the ACCB.
The cut-off date for $10-a-day program applications was August 18, 2022, and more applications will be reviewed until the target of 12,500 spaces is met.
BC Government photo
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