News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Budget 2021 will: More than double the number of children who can get care for $10 a day or less through an expansion of the Universal Child Care Prototype Program. This investment will add 75 more child care centres to the program, increasing the number of spaces by approximately 3,750; Help more families access child care on school grounds by expanding the Seamless Day pilot program from four school districts to 24; Support approximately 11,000 ECEs in licensed child care centres, and encourage better recruitment and retention in the sector by doubling the ECE wage enhancement to $4 an hour..."

Excerpt: "More families than ever are benefiting from better access to quality, affordable child care, thanks to the fastest creation of child care spaces in B.C.’s history. The Province has exceeded its original three-year goal and has funded nearly 26,000 new licensed child care spaces since the 10-year Childcare BC plan was launched in 2018. Nearly 70% of these spaces are expected to be open for families within the next year."

Excerpt: "The proposed ELCC act will increase transparency and accountability by requiring the Province to produce annual reports on its progress towards building an inclusive, universal child care system. The report will also include how the Province is collaborating with Indigenous peoples to support Indigenous-led child care. The ELCC act will also give the minister responsible the authority to create new regulations, including the ability to set limits on child care fees for parents. This will help ensure child care is more affordable for families."

Excerpt: "Under this agreement, the governments of Canada and British Columbia will work together to improve access to quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care programs and services. British Columbia and Canada agree on the goal of $10 a day child care, and will work together towards achieving an average parent fee of $10 per day for all regulated child care spaces for children under 6 by the end of the five-year agreement. By the end of 2022, British Columbians will see a 50 per cent reduction in average parent fees for children under the age of 6 in regulated child care.

This agreement will lead to the creation of 30,000 new regulated early learning and child care spaces for children under the age of 6 within five years, and 40,000 spaces within seven years. These spaces will be focused on community investments that are long-term and run by public and non-profit institutions.

The agreement will fund critical services and support early childhood educators, including through the development of a wage grid."

Excerpt: "Through the agreement, the Government of Canada is providing over $272 million in funding over four years to British Columbia to improve access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care programs and services. In addition, the Government of Canada is making a one-time investment of $48.8 million in 2021–2022 to support British Columbia’s early childhood educator recruitment and retention efforts."

Excerpt: "The Seamless Day Kindergarten pilot program will employ certified early childhood educators to provide before- and after-school care in kindergarten classrooms and to support learning alongside the classroom teacher. The program makes use of existing classrooms, outside of school hours, and does not require new rooms or buildings."

Excerpt: "More parents in B.C.’s Interior will be able to pursue their work or education goals, thanks to 84 licensed child care spaces and a further 79 spaces that are expected to open by March 2022."

Excerpt: "BC and Canada agree on the goal of $10 per day child care, and will work together towards achieving this goal for ages children aged 0 to 5 within 5 years. The ability to afford child care remains a significant barrier for families in BC. The fiscal year 2020 to 2021 average fees for group/centre-based care varies from $1,000 per month per child for infant care (after the $350 per month CCFRI fee reduction) to $470 per month per child for before/after school careFootnote 6. The introduction of CCFRI in 2018 rolled back child care fees; however, as fees continue to rise each year due to inflation, increased wages, etc., fees for some care types have returned to pre-CCFRI levels."

Excerpt: "People looking to build careers in child care will have more educational opportunities with the addition of 147 early childhood educator (ECE) seats at eight public post-secondary institutions throughout the province."

Excerpt: "EXPANDING CHILD CARE: The pandemic shone a light on how important reliable and affordable child care is. It gives kids an early start on the path to learning and it helps parents return to work and pursue opportunities. For too long, investing in child care was not the priority it should have been. Many parents felt left behind by rising fees and long waiting lists. Your government has been working hard to change that. Families are already benefiting from thousands of new spaces and saving up to $19,000 a year in lower fees. Your government will build on the progress made by more than doubling $10-a-day spaces and reducing average fees by as much as 50% by the end of this year. Our province is closer than ever to having the first new social program in a generation. A future where child care is a core service – available to every family that wants it, when they need it, at a price they can afford. As part of that work, your government will move responsibility for child care into the Ministry of Education this year, which will manage child care programs through new regional offices. This new, regional approach will allow your government to better understand local needs as it continues to build more spaces for families. Over time, this will bring certainty and reliability to child care. The same way that parents feel knowing that they have a public school to send their kids to."

Excerpt: "Federal early childhood workforce funding will be allocated through several ECE support streams and may be adjusted incrementally to better support programs in high demand, including: $25.5 million to continue providing ECE student bursaries for the next three to four years; $11.6 million to support the development and delivery of a recruitment and retention incentive program to encourage new ECEs who become certified through the ECE Registry to work in the sector, and to improve information and understanding about ECE retention; $7.5 million in professional development, inclusion support and deaf/hard-of-hearing training, and peer mentoring, including $3 million to be funded through West Coast Child Care Resource Centre for bursaries to assist child care professionals in accessing affordable professional learning; $2.3 million toward a work-integrated approach that gives ECE students the opportunity to become certified while maintaining employment as a child care professional; $1.15 million for the dual credit program so high school students can more quickly get their ECE certification (with the Province contributing an additional $575,000 in 2021-22); and $750,000 to translate francophone ECE credentials or those from other countries to help certify new British Columbians to work as ECEs."

Excerpt: "Budget 2022 brings B.C. closer than ever to government’s planned $10-a-day child care; Through a new agreement with the federal government, fees for full-day infant and toddler care will be reduced by 50% to an average of approximately $20 a day by the end of 2022; Budget 2022 builds on that investment by cutting average fees for preschool and before- and after-school care to less than $20 a day for the 2023-24 school year."