A Cochrane mother of four could be saving hundreds of dollars in child-care costs every month starting next year when a federal and provincially funded plan to cut the fees to parents in half kicks in.
Premier Jason Kenney, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, and federal and provincial ministers were at the YMCA Shirley Stollery Child Care in Edmonton on Nov. 15 to announce the details of a child-care agreement which will culminate to $10 a day child care by 2026.
The deal will see $3.8 billion in tax dollars funnelled back to the province to fund operating grants, expand subsides to working parents, create new child-care spaces and update the wage grid for early learning and child care educators.
For Crystal Bohn, whose children are aged five, seven, nine and 11, that means a huge reduction in her family’s financial stress.
“Child care is definitely one of our most expensive monthly expenditures,” she said. “Depending on the type of care we’ve paid upwards of $3,000 a month for child care at times. When our son was in a day home it was about $1,400 a month.”
A reduction in child-care costs will mean an overall better quality of life for the entire family.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “It just means that it is not so stressful managing that expense every month and you know it opens it up for us to spend that money in other ways. That means kids activities, that means a family trip. I Just think that level of stress that parents always feel financially but also finding quality care can be really tough.”
Jill Bilodeau is the executive director for the Boys and Girls Club Cochrane and Area (BGCCA). She said this announcement will make a huge difference for local families.
Child-care costs, specifically in Cochrane, are high, she said, estimating that day homes in Cochrane charge between $900 and $1,100 per month, per child.
The BGCCA runs a program that screens day home operators in Cochrane and then matches approved operators with parents looking for child care.
Bilodeau said the other important part of the child-care announcement is an increase in spaces.
“This is going to increase capacity,” she said. “So, there is a lot of time, the preferred choice is a day home, we simply don’t have the space for children.”
The funding will also go towards increased training for child-care workers, which Bilodeau said will increase the quality of care available over the coming years.
“It is really a wonderful thing the federal government have done here because the funding will provide access to inclusive, safe child care for families,” she said.
The BGCCA is still awaiting more details from the federal and provincial government, and Bilodeau said they are interested in finding out how the program will roll out over the next five years.
“We haven’t heard yet from any parents,” she said, “We expect in the next couple of days when everybody has time to digest this, that is when the questions will come. We are also anticipating more information to come from the provincial and federal government.
