Report Reveals Canada’s Progress Towards Achieving its $10-a-Day Child Care Commitment

All provinces and territories committed to achieving a 50 percent cost reduction by December 2022, with the complete rollout of $10-a-day child care scheduled for 2025-2026.

The CCPA conducted 11,000 phone interviews with licensed child-care providers from March 14 to May 3, 2023. The report used median values to summarize fees by city, implying that there might be some variation in costs for parents across the country.

Among the 32 cities committed to reducing fees by 50 percent, 18 successfully met this target. Additionally, for different age groups, approximately one-fifth and one-quarter of these cities reduced fees by 40 to 47 percent, respectively.

The report also highlights that five jurisdictions have already achieved the goal of $10-a-day child care.

The provinces and territories’ responsibilities encompassed three key components: reducing fees, expanding child-care facilities, and providing workforce support.

British Columbia extended its $10-a-day child care program but fell short of the December 2022 target, achieving only a 44 percent cost reduction.

The report reveals that Richmond, B.C., had the highest median fees for child care for children under 18 months and toddlers in Canada, amounting to $905 per month. However, this marks a significant decrease from the previous median of $1,200 per month that parents paid in 2019.

In 2023, child care centers in Calgary charged parents a median fee of $780 per month. This is a reduction from the $1,300 fee in 2020, but it still falls short of the 50 percent reduction target for children under 18 months.

The city’s fees for toddlers and school-aged children were a median of $838 and $810, respectively. These figures mark the second-highest and highest fees in Canada for those respective age groups.

Nonetheless, while other jurisdictions were reducing fees, the province saw an increase in the median fee from $8.25 a day to $8.85 for all age groups since 2019.

“Thus, despite a seven percent increase from 2019, these fees still remain the most affordable across Canada in 2023,” states the report.

Ontario successfully managed a 52.75 percent reduction in center and family child care fees by March 2022, with the majority of cities achieving a 50 percent reduction by December.

However, some cities in the Greater Toronto Area narrowly missed the target, yet the costs are significantly lower than those in 2020, as highlighted in the report.

Toronto, for instance, has median fees of $903 per month, while Markham, Ontario, ranks as the third most expensive city in Canada for child care, with a median cost of $818 per month for children under 18 months.

 

Newfoundland and Labrador achieved its $10-a-day child care fees three years ahead of the 2025 target. This milestone was reached by first halving fees for toddler and preschool-age child care centers.

Saskatchewan also followed a similar trajectory, initially reducing fees by over 50 percent for various age groups and subsequently meeting the $10-a-day maximum fee three years ahead of schedule, as indicated in the report.

Nunavut’s child care centers witnessed one of the most substantial fee reductions, primarily due to previously having some of the highest costs in the country. In 2019, Iqaluit’s median fees were $1,300 per month.

The territorial government implemented the $10-a-day fees at the end of 2022, resulting in an 82 percent decrease in costs for centers in Iqaluit – a reduction greater than any other city in Canada.

The Yukon accomplished its final target well in advance of the federal policy implementation. Before the federal program, the territorial government had established a universal child care system with an average cost of less than $10 a day in the spring of 2021.

In the Northwest Territories, certain cities managed to reduce fees for all age groups by December 2022. However, like Ontario, there are still some child care centers with relatively high fees.