Latest news with #affordableChildcare
CTV News
09-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Halifax has among highest child care costs across Canadian cities: new study
Crayons are seen on a table at a new child care facility operated by the YMCA, in North Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, July 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck HALIFAX — A new report by a think tank says Halifax has some of the highest child care costs among major Canadian cities. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says the median fee for daycare in Halifax was $24 a day per child as of April. That puts Halifax as the sixth most expensive city for child care out of 35 major cities in the country. Halifax's median daycare fees were more expensive than those in Toronto, Oakville, Ottawa and all other Atlantic cities studied. The think tank examined the progress provinces and territories are making on hitting the federal government's target of having child care cost an average of $10 a day. Kenya Thompson, with Child Care Now Nova Scotia, says families in the province continue to struggle to find daycare they can afford. She says the provincial government needs to significantly invest in the child care sector to subsidize fees and ensure parents with young children remain in the workforce. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Many Sask. childcare operators can't continue $10-a-day childcare without extension of federal program
A recent survey of Saskatchewan childcare operators shows that most respondents feel they will not be able to continue offering $10-per-day childcare if the province does not sign an extension of the program with Ottawa. The survey, conducted by Child Care Now Saskatchewan and shared by the Opposition NDP on Friday, revealed that more than 77 per cent of respondents feel they would be unable to continue offering $10-a-day childcare. Child Care Now Saskatchewan says it surveyed around 50 operators across the province in March, with 22 individual or multi-centre organizations responding - which represents 1,526 $10 per day spaces. The Saskatchewan Government's current agreement with Ottawa expires March 31, 2026. Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only two provinces without a new agreement to extend the program to 2031. Ontario currently has an agreement in principle. On Friday, NDP MLA Joan Pratchler said Saskatchewan is facing a childcare crisis and parents need reassurance that they'll have a place to care for their children in the near future. Pratchler recently sent a letter to Minister of Education Everett Hindley, indicating that affordable high-quality childcare is being put in a precarious position without a signed deal. The NDP says that parents, operators and early childhood educators have been calling on the province to get a deal done since the start of 2025. 'There is money on the table, and we need answers as to why they are not signing the extension – the livelihood of every family in Saskatchewan that uses childcare is at stake,' Cara Werner from the Southeast Saskatchewan Directors Association said in a news release. Cara Steiner, executive director of Prairie Lily Early Learning Centre in Regina, said in the release that without a new federal deal and provincial funding formula, many businesses are not sustainable and will be forced to close. 'Time is up. People are losing patience. Get moving already and sign the thing,' Pratchler said in the release. Throughout 2025, the provincial government has indicated it plans to sign an agreement with Ottawa to extend the federal program and is ready to negotiate. In an emailed statement on Friday the province indicated that it is continuing to call on the federal government to sit down and re-negotiate an extension to the childcare agreement. 'Ministry of Education officials have had ongoing meetings with federal counterparts as part of the current agreement, during which time they have re-affirmed our commitment to signing an extension,' the statement read. 'Education Minister Everett Hindley has also written numerous letters to the previous and now current federal minister to set up a meeting to discuss the extension,' the province said. The province also feels the NDP simply wants it to sign the offer on the table, adding that the current agreement doesn't expire until March 2026 and there is room to negotiate a better offer that would benefit Saskatchewan people. During an interview with CTV Morning Live on April 17, Hindley indicated that the province would be ready to begin negotiations with Ottawa once the April 28 federal election was done. In the interview, Hindley said provinces that signed a new agreement early on were now starting to come back to the table to ask questions, and Saskatchewan wanted to prioritize a fair deal over moving quickly to sign. 'You are seeing some of the other provinces now start to come back and say we signed this deal rather quickly back in February and now we want to make some changes,' he said. Hindley also indicated at the time that the province was presented with an offer from Ottawa in February and given a two-week window to negotiate. 'We said we need to bring forward some concerns that are being brought to our attention by families and childcare operators around the province,' he said. One of those concerns, according to Hindley, was how Ottawa's offer to Saskatchewan differed from Manitoba's. A main question surrounded Saskatchewan children aging out of the $10 program when they turn six. 'And in Manitoba that is not the case they've got a limit of [seven-years-old], so we are saying that's a commonsense thing we think should be applied here in Saskatchewan, why wouldn't we negotiate that into the new deal,' Hindley said. Hindley indicated that the province does not want substantive major changes to the current offer it has, but wanted to ensure any agreement they sign is long-term, sustainable and ensures the addition of more childcare spaces.
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
New 104-space daycare to be built at Cape Breton University
Cape Breton University is seen in this undated file photo. A new child-care centre with 104 spaces is coming to Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. The Nova Scotia government announced the new centre, which is a partnership between the province and the university, Friday morning. The facility will be built on the CBU campus, behind the new medical school. It will offer spots and programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. 'Access to affordable, high-quality child care is essential for families to thrive,' said David Dingwall, the president and vice-chancellor of Cape Breton University in a news release. 'Expanding our daycare program is about more than just increasing seats, it's about supporting parents, empowering students and helping our community grow stronger together.' The province says the project is part of its efforts to expand access to child care, supported through the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. 'We're improving access to child care, which means families will have the support they need close to home and work,' said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brendan Maguire. The news comes after the province announced last week it would be opening a 104-space daycare on the St. Francis Xavier University campus in Antigonish. Nova Scotia has signed a five-year extension to the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and the Canada-Nova Scotia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, worth more than $1 billion total. The province says the extended agreements will be in place until March 31, 2031. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Why some Edmonton parents say a $15 flat-rate fee for daycare isn't saving them money
In April, the Alberta government brought in a $15 flat-rate fee for daycare. It's a partnership with the federal government and the province that is meant to help parents pay for affordable childcare. But parents say the plan isn't actually more affordable — instead they've been hit with additional fees and fewer options. Host Clare Bonnyman sits down with CBC reporter Sarah Reid who's been following the changes to Alberta's system.
