FREDERICTON, NB, April 25, 2022 /CNW/ - Since 2015, the Government of Canada has delivered real improvements to make life more affordable from coast to coast to coast, including making a historic investment of $30 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in collaboration with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners.
Today, the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, along with the Honourable Dominic Cardy, New Brunswick's Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, announced that licensed child care fees for New Brunswick families with children under six years of age will be reduced by an average of 50%, starting June 1, 2022.
Today's announcement means that the governments of Canada and New Brunswick will meet their shared goal to reduce parent fees by an average of 50% six months ahead of schedule, resulting in New Brunswick families seeing an out-of-pocket reduction of approximately $3,900 annually per child in child care costs. This is a significant step in making progress toward providing families across the province with an average of $10-a-day child care by 2026.
Nearly all of Canada's provinces and territories have announced the implementation of child care fee reductions, working toward the commitment under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements to reduce fees for licensed child care spaces by 50% on average by the end of 2022. The governments of Quebec and Yukon have already achieved an average cost of $10 a day or lower for regulated child care.
With signed agreements with all provinces and territories, the Canada-wide early learning and child care system is becoming a reality across the country. The Government of Canada will continue to work with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to make life more affordable for families and give children across the country an equal chance to succeed.
"The Government of Canada's goal is to ensure that, by the end of March 2026, all families in Canada, no matter where they live, will have access to regulated early learning and child care for an average of $10 a day. The reduction of fees announced today in New Brunswick is a meaningful step toward achieving that goal and will make a real difference for families across the province. We will continue to work with New Brunswick to help ensure that children have access to the high–quality, affordable and inclusive early learning and child care they need to succeed."
- The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
"Today we are taking an important step towards reducing child-care fees for families so that every child, no matter their background, can develop the skills and receive the care they deserve from the very start. By supporting our child-care sector and increasing access, affordability, quality and inclusive practices for families, we are also supporting good-quality education, small businesses and our economy, as well as building on the success of the designation program that has increased the quality of learning in facilities."
- The Honourable Dominic Cardy, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development for New Brunswick
- The Canada–New Brunswick Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement provides almost $492 million in federal funding for New Brunswick over five years to help improve licensed early learning and child care for children under six years of age in the province.
- This is in addition to the more than $48.1 million in federal funding announced in August 2021 through the 2021–2022 to 2024–2025 Canada–New Brunswick Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, as well as close to $9.3 million through a one-time federal investment in the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year to support the early childhood workforce.
- In addition to the federal contribution, New Brunswick will contribute an additional $53 million over the course of the Canada-wide agreement, which builds on the province's current investments of $70 million in early learning and child care annually.
- New Brunswick will create 3,400 new child care spaces within its early learning facility designation system by the end of March 2026, including 500 spaces by March 2023.
- Through previous investments in early learning and child care, the Government of Canada helped to create over 40,000 more affordable child care spaces across the country prior to the pandemic, including over 12,600 spaces in New Brunswick.
- Budget 2021: A Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan
- $10-a-day child care for families in New Brunswick
- Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For media enquiries, please contact: Mohammad Hussain, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]; Danielle Elliott, Communications, New Brunswick's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, [email protected]
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