N.S. needs more help from Ottawa to hit $10-a-day child care, says minister

Nova Scotia's minister of education and early childhood development says the province will need more "help" from Ottawa to achieve $10-a-day child care by March 2026.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Brendan Maguire said the province is on track to reach its goal of 9,500 child-care spaces by that time — with 7,000 already created — but that additional "teamwork" with the federal government is required to hit the monetary target.

"There's a few things. It's not just money. But we realize that there is a role for private sector in this in order for us to achieve what we need to achieve," Maguire said.

"So there's lots of things we're discussing, whether it's funding, it's private sector, it's space."

Nova Scotia signed a $605-million deal with Ottawa in 2021 to create 9,500 spaces by March 2026. Other than paying for expansions, the money has also been used to drive down the cost of child care to parents, with a goal of having families pay an average of $10 a day for care.

Last year, the federal government rejected Nova Scotia's plea to extend daycare expansion funds to private operators. Maguire suggested Ottawa could be more open to it now.

"The main goal of this child-care agreement is to ensure that parents get safe, affordable child-care spaces," he said. 

"In other jurisdictions, private sector does play a small role. We're in discussion to see what we can do for a Nova Scotia solution to ensure that. We need to get to those spaces and we need to get to $10 a day and we're looking at every option."

A report released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that Halifax has some of the highest child-care fees in the country, ranking sixth highest among 35 cities.

The median cost of daycare per child per day in Halifax is $24.

High cost of living

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Maguire refused to answer why child-care costs are so much higher in this province.

"We have an enormously high cost of living, it's as expensive to live here as it is in Toronto, and that's only taking into account transportation and housing. When you add daycare on top of that, it's a punishing amount for working families and we deserve to know why," Chender told reporters on Thursday.

Chender said it doesn't seem likely Nova Scotia will reach $10-a-day child care by March 2026.

Derek Mombourquette, the interim leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party and the former provincial education minister who signed the child-care agreement, said he's hopeful the province will hit the target.

"I am happy to see the minister actually celebrating the deal that the premier has criticized for years. So I would say one of the challenges, if we don't hit that benchmark, is because he's been so critical of it. It's been a constant fight with Ottawa since the deal was signed," Mombourquette said.