Province unveils $15/day child care with federal cash

By Anna Smith SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on January 31, 2025.

The government of Alberta is announcing a flat monthly parent fee for child care of roughly $15 a day.
Alberta says it is supporting families to access affordable child care across the province with their choice in provider, thanks to the $3.8-billion Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
Parents with children zero to kindergarten age attending full-time licensed daycare facilities and family day home programs across the province will be eligible for a flat parent fee of $326.25 per month, or $230 a month for part-time care.
“Albertans deserve affordable child-care options, no matter where they are or which type of care works best for them,” said Matt Jones, provincial Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade. “We are bringing in flat parent fees for families so they can all access high-quality child care for the same affordable, predictable fee.”
This programming will begin April 1, and to support it, about 85 percent of licensed daycare providers will receive a funding increase.
Alberta already reduced parent fees to an average of $15 a day in January 2024, said the province, but did note that many families are still paying much more depending on where they live, the age of their child and the child-care provider they choose. This flat rate aims to eliminate confusion and allow for more choice in where their children receive care.
They estimate families using full-time daycare could save, on average, $11,000 per child per year, as this program replaces the Child Care Subsidy Program for children zero to kindergarten age attending child care during regular school hours.
The subsidy for children attending out-of-school care is not changing.
This change is welcome but long overdue, said Diana Batten, the NDP’s shadow minister for Children and Family Services.
“It’s about time the UCP government did the right thing and quit dragging their heels on moving forward with the federal government’s $3.8-billion child-care plan,” said Batten.
“When the federal government announced this program, the target was for $10-a-day child care,” said Batten. “But the minister’s delay in participating has made that target unachievable and caused a lot of stress and anxiety for Alberta child-care operators and parents, not to mention an uneven system where some parents paid more than others for additional fees.”
As the province transitions to the new flat parent fee, child-care providers will have flexibility to offer optional services for an additional supplemental parent fee, says the province, over and above the services that are provided in individual child-care programs. Clear requirements will be in place for providers to prevent preferential child-care access for families choosing to pay for optional services.

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