Nearly $70M in federal funding for more child-care spaces in B.C.

The federal government says it will give British Columbia $69.9 million for new child-care spaces and what it describes as inclusive child-care services, and B.C. says 930 new spaces will be added to the provincial $10-a-day child-care program this spring. 

"Access to high-quality child care can help [children] do better in school and is a building block to success in life," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after Premier David Eby called on Ottawa to help build B.C.'s affordable child-care program.

Earlier this month, Eby said the average cost of child care in B.C. has dropped from around $50 per day to an average of $18 per day.

The B.C. NDP has been promising $10-a-day child care since it took power in 2017. 

The province says since 2018, it has invested $3.9 billion in its 10-year ChildCareBC plan.

Currently there are 140,000 licensed child-care spots in B.C., according to child-care advocate Sharon Gregson, with about 10 per cent of those operating at $10 per day.

In a news release, the province said 27 child-care centres throughout B.C. will be part of the new $10-a-day spaces. 

The new spaces announced by the province brings the total to 15,000, Minister of State for Child Care Mitzi Dean said Thursday. 

"The families of over 15,000 children throughout B.C. have more money in their pockets as their child-care bills are cut by more than $10,000 on average per child, per year," Dean said.

The provincial government says it aims to have 20,000 spaces in the next two years.

Trudeau also announced student loan forgiveness for early childhood educators (ECEs) in rural and remote communities, with the goal of attracting more child-care providers outside of urban centres. The federal government is also putting up $10 million over the next two years to train more ECEs.

As well, Trudeau announced a child-care expansion loan program, including $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable grants for non-profit child-care operators to expand and renovate. 

In 2021, the federal government promised $30 billion over five years to offset the cost of child care.