YELLOWKNIFE, NT, May 14, 2024 /CNW/ - Every child deserves the best start in life. But for young families, including Millennial and Gen Z parents, the costs of child care can add up to a second rent or mortgage payment. This makes it harder to start and support a family, and as a result, parents—especially moms—often face impossible choices between their careers and child care fees.

Fairness for every generation means ensuring parents, especially moms, do not have to choose between a career and starting a family. The Government is taking action to make life cost less for young families and to build a Canada where every generation can get ahead.

Already, all provinces and territories are offering or are on track to offer $10-a-day regulated child care. This progress, made possible by nearly $40 billion in federal support since 2016, including the transformative investment of nearly $30 billion in Budget 2021, is making life more affordable for young families. Women's labour force participation is now at a record high of 85.7%, meaning more families are bringing home more income and contributing to Canada's economic growth, while saving thousands of dollars on child care every year.

But more families need access to affordable child care.

That's why, today in Yellowknife, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, joined the Honourable Caitlin Cleveland, Northwest Territories' Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, to announce $10.6 million over four years, with $7.8 million through 2025–2026, to help build more inclusive child care spaces across the Northwest Territories through the Government of Canada's $625‑million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund. This investment will help the Northwest Territories reach the shared goal of building 300 new child care spaces by 2026.

Through this Fund, all provinces and territories will be able to make further investments in child care, so more families can save up to $14,300 on child care every year, per child.

These investments will aim to support families in rural and remote communities, as well as families in communities that face barriers to access, such as racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, official language minority communities, and children, parents and employees with disabilities. Funding may also be used to support infrastructure to provide care during non-standard hours.  

Across the country, over 750,000 kids are already benefiting from affordable, high-quality child care, with some families saving up to $14,300 per child, per year. Alongside provinces and territories, the Government of Canada has also announced over 100,000 new spaces, well on the way to reaching the goal of creating 250,000 new spaces by March 2026.

Investing in affordable child care is about helping more families save thousands of dollars on child care and ensuring that every child has the best start in life. The measures highlighted above complement what the Government of Canada is doing in Budget 2024 to build a fairer Canada for every generation. The Government is building more homes, strengthening public health care, making life cost less, and growing the economy in a way that is shared by all—to make sure every generation has a fair chance at building a good middle-class life.

"Young families who don't yet have access to affordable child care spaces are paying as much as a second rent or mortgage payment for unregulated child care. This is unfair to today's generation of parents, especially Millennial and Gen Z parents, who need and deserve the relief of $10-a-day child care. We are working with provinces and territories to build more spaces across the country, so that more families can access affordable child care and save thousands of dollars every year."
– The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

"Every child deserves the best possible start in life. With today's investment, we are strengthening early learning and child care infrastructure in Yellowknife and throughout the Northwest Territories, increasing the number of spaces available for families and supporting the delivery of high-quality care."
– The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

"Every family should have access to high-quality, inclusive child care. More child care spaces mean more high-quality spots for kids, and more relief for parents as they access affordable child care. The Government of Canada remains committed to working with the Northwest Territories so children in Canada have the best possible start in life. The Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund will help child care providers across the Northwest Territories so they can continue to provide access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care to underserved communities."
– The Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

"I regularly hear from families and child care providers that a lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest barriers to achieving affordable child care in communities across the Northwest Territories. With this investment, we are helping to ensure that more Northern parents will have access to spaces for their children to learn and grow."
– Michael Mcleod, Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories

"Today's announcement is an important step to help make child care more accessible for families in the Northwest Territories. Canada's investment of approximately $7.8 million for early learning and child care infrastructure in the territory is vital in creating new spaces and expanding existing child care facilities. I look forward to seeing this funding used to create facilities where Northwest Territories children can grow, learn and flourish."
– The Honourable Caitlin Cleveland, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Government of Northwest Territories

• As part of Budget 2021, the Government of Canada made a transformative investment of more than $27 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners.
• Combined with investments since 2016, including investments in Indigenous early learning and child care, the federal government has announced investments of nearly $40 billion in early learning and child care.
• To date, eight provinces and territories are delivering regulated child care for an average of $10-a-day or less, including Quebec and the Yukon, which achieved this prior to the Canada-wide system. In all other provinces and territories, fees for regulated child care have been reduced by at least 50% on average. Provinces and territories are working toward lowering fees for regulated child care to $10-a-day on average by March 2026.
  • Canada-wide early learning and child care is saving families, per child, up to $6,000 in Nova Scotia, $13,700 a year in Alberta, $8,500 in Ontario, $6,900 in Saskatchewan, $6,600 in British Columbia, $6,300 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $4,170 in Prince Edward Island, $3,600 in New Brunswick, $2,610 in Manitoba, $7,300 in the Yukon, $9,120 in the Northwest Territories, and $14,300 in Nunavut.
• As part of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system, the Government of Canada is working with provinces and territories to create 250,000 new child care spaces across the country by March 2026 to increase access to affordable child care options for families, no matter where they live.
  • To support this goal, the federal government previously announced the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund. The Fund provides an additional $625 million to provinces and territories to support infrastructure projects for not-for-profit child care spaces in underserved communities, such as rural and remote regions, high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities that face barriers to access, including racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, as well as parents, caregivers and children with disabilities.
  • To further accelerate progress, Budget 2024 announced a new $1‑billion Child Care Expansion Loan Program, to help public and not-for-profit child care providers to build more child care spaces and renovate their existing child care centres.
• To give every child the best start in life, the federal government is also:
  • Giving families more money through the Canada Child Benefit to help with the costs of raising their children and to make a real difference in the lives of children in Canada. The Canada Child Benefit, which provides up to $7,437 per child per year, is indexed annually to keep up with the cost of living and has helped lift half a million children out of poverty since its launch in 2016.
  • Improving access to dental health care for children under the age of 12 through the Canada Dental Benefit, and soon for children under 18 with the Canadian Dental Care Plan, because no one should have to choose between taking care of their kids' teeth and putting food on the table.
  • Creating a National School Food Program to ensure that every child has the best start in life, with the food they need to learn and grow, no matter their circumstances.
  • Supporting after-school learning with an investment of $67.5 million to help all Canadian students reach their full potential. After-school learning and supports play an important role in helping students succeed in their academic pursuits, especially for at-risk students.

Toward $10-a-day: Early Learning and Child Care
Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Child Care
Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada