The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released a new study on child care fees in Canada. Toronto has the highest median full time centre based and regulated home child care infant fees in the country at $1,758 a month, or $21,096 annually.
It is evident that provinces where governments set parents fees and provide operational funding directly to service providers have the lowest parent fees. Only 3 provinces do so currently: Manitoba, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island. The other provinces, and especially those with a high percentage of private, for profit operators, have experienced an increase in parent fees. “71% of the cities surveyed in 2017 saw their fees rise faster than inflation in the past year”.
Parent fees in licensed child care facilities that are government funded in Manitoba have not changed since 2013. In fact, parent fees have gone up by only $2.00 a day in the past 17 years.
Other factors that keep parent fees low in Manitoba:
Low parent fees is good news for Manitoba families that can access a licensed child care space. As of August 31, 2017, there are 16,702 children on Manitoba’s online child care registry waiting list and no provincial plan to address the shortage of licensed spaces that parents prefer. The fees parents pay in the unlicensed privately delivered market, for example the neighborhood babysitter, are (anecdotally) about $5.00 and up per day higher than the provincially regulated rates in the not for profit sector.
Here is a link to the full report: Time Out Child Care Fees in Canada 2017
Categories: News
Posted by Jodie Kehl at 4:07 pm
