Canadians Paying Up To $22,000 Annually For Daycare

A report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report today that shows Canadians are paying up to $22,000 for childcare a year. The report studied 28 of Canada’s largest cities and focused on a few rural areas in Alberta and Ontario. Vancouver has the most expensive childcare costs in BC, with infant care averaging at $1360 a month. Although rural communities have cheaper fees, they’re not too far behind larger centres.

“We definitely see the same thing in Prince George,” said Early Childhood Care and Learning instructor, Cheryl Emerson. “In rural communities there’s just no childcare available and sometimes if there’s childcare available there’s no childhood educators to fill those spots.” 

Childcare workers are hoping the provincial government will step in to assist families with the costs, and to better support workers. “I know that Quebec has a provincial model and it’s working really well there. Hopefully BC can have a provincial modelling move forward,” said Emerson.