The federal government is negotiating child care agreements with the provinces and territories that will require that parent fees for regulated child care be lowered by an average of 50 per cent by 2022 and to an average of $10 a day by 2025-26. But exactly how much will parents save because of these drops in fees?

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has assembled an interactive map that answers the question.  For example, it shows that a 50 per cent cut in parent fees would save families with an infant:

  • $11,200 per year in Toronto
  • $7800 per year in Calgary 
  • $8500 per year in Iqaluit
  • $7000 per year in Vancouver
  • $5400 per year in Saskatoon

Map of Canada with circles at populated areas, with the title "Universal child care delivers real savings for parents. ow much will parents save?"

How to get more, better, equitable child care

Two of Canada’s leading child care advocates, Martha Friendly and Lynell Anderson, have laid out a clear plan for how to grow an accessible, high quality, equitable child care system. The plan advances advocates for the expansion of regulated child care to be limited to the not-for-profit and public sectors, and calls on governments to focus intently on planning, developing and supporting not-for-profit and public expansion strategies.