In April 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined the goal of daycare costing an average of $10 per day across the country within the next five years.
In pursuit of this goal, the federal government has committed to investing $30 billion over the next five years and then a minimum of $9.2 billion annually after that. The Prime Minister’s office stated the new system could reduce daycare fees by 50 per cent on average everywhere outside of Quebec by the end of 2022.
Since the announcement, the federal government has entered into talks with provinces and territories about implementing this new early learning and child care system. So far, it has reached agreements with seven provinces and one territory. Part of the agreements entail determining how much money the federal government will provide each jurisdiction to make child care more affordable, accessible, and to support child care providers themselves through the likes of skills training and wage increases.
The rationale behind this initiative is to spur economic growth and social prosperity across the country.