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News & Stories: Policy Monitor

June 20, 2022

Excerpt: "Applications are being accepted from child care providers to join the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program this year, which will enable them to offer low-cost child care, making life more affordable for thousands more families in B.C. Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month (for full-time, centre-based infant care) at facilities participating in the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI) to $200 a month, saving families an average of about $800 a month per child."
July 11, 2022

Excerpt: "The University of British Columbia is receiving a total of $1,294,439 in federal funding over 24 months, starting in April 2022, for their project titled PROmoting Early Childhood Outside (PRO-ECO). In partnership with 10 early learning and child care sites in Greater Vancouver, the University of British Columbia will research the effectiveness of outdoor play intervention. This project aims to create a locally guided and sustainable method for enhancing outdoor play environments that will be scalable to other early learning and child care centres across Canada."
August 3, 2022

Excerpt: "A one-time $49.2-million investment by the Government of Canada through the 2021-22 to 2024-25 Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement will better support workforce development in the child care sector. This includes $25.5 million to help provide ECE bursaries for three academic years, which began in September 2021. Since the launch of ChildCareBC in 2018, the ECE Education Support Fund has provided 12,300 bursaries to support more than 6,500 students pursuing a career in early childhood education."
August 4, 2022

Excerpt: "More students in grades 11 and 12 will be able to earn both high school and post-secondary credits toward careers in early childhood education with the introduction of 30 new dual-credit programs at school districts throughout B.C."
September 1, 2022

Excerpt: "The Ministry of Education and Child Care is investing $8.2 billion to support students, invest in schools and support the transition and delivery of child care. Of this total, there is $7.4 billion for kindergarten to Grade 12 education this year, which is $1.8 billion more than in 2016-17. This is a total increase of 32%."
September 22, 2022

Excerpt: "The Province is making education accessible by working with Capilano University (CapU) on a new centre for childhood studies that will more than double the available child care spaces on campus. Slated to open late 2024, the centre will add 74 affordable new child care spaces for a total of 143 on-campus spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Students, employees and community members are all eligible to apply for space for their children at the new centre."
September 23, 2022

Excerpt: "The Province is directly funding licensed child care centres so families will not need to apply for these savings. This funding will lower fees for children, kindergarten-aged and younger. These additional savings, which build on earlier fee cuts introduced as part of the Province’s $2.7-billion investment in ChildCareBC since 2018, are being funded through the five-year, $3.2-billion Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement."
November 28, 2022

Excerpt: "With new cuts to child care fees coming into effect in December 2022, an online tool is available to help families estimate the amount of savings they will see on their bill...Starting Dec. 1, 2022, parents in British Columbia will save as much as $550 more per month for each child they have in participating licensed child care facilities. This funding will lower fees for children kindergarten age and younger by up to $900 per month."
December 2, 2022

Excerpt: "“As of yesterday, we cut child care fees in half on average across British Columbia – saving families up to an additional $550 a month per child,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “Our plan to make life more affordable is delivering concrete results for parents who are struggling with the rising cost of living and ensuring every child can get the best possible start in life. We’re going to continue to be there for people as we work toward delivering $10-a-day child care across the country and build an economy that works for all Canadians.” Increased reductions in child care fees of up to $550 more per child per month took effect on Dec. 1, 2022, and are helping approximately 69,000 families with the cost of child care. This is in addition to the savings of up to $350 per month per child that were introduced in 2018 and which participating child care providers were already passing on to families."
January 3, 2023

Excerpt: "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."
January 30, 2023

Excerpt: "More than 725 child care spaces are joining the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program in February, bringing the number of spaces to 12,700 and helping families across the province save thousands of dollars per year. These spaces help reduce costs for families in British Columbia and further develop high-quality, affordable and accessible child care as a core service in the province."
February 3, 2023

Excerpt: "The Province is committed to creating a future where inclusive child care is a core service that families can rely on by embedding inclusion and equitable access into all aspects of child care in B.C., and by partnering with the federal government to expand supports for children with support needs. This additional investment of $31.8 million in 2022-23 was provided through the 2021-2026 Canada-B.C. Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and the bilateral 2021-2025 Canada-B.C. Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. This funding will increase the number of children getting the support they need to fully participate in child care settings, while helping to build inclusive child care capacity by training child care providers."