Alberta announces new capital funding to expand not-for-profit and public child care

February 11, 2025

The Alberta government announced on January 27, 2025 that it will use a new $53 million capital grant program (financed by the federal government) to help public and not-for-profit organizations that wish to “build, expand, upgrade and make repairs to their existing facilities.” Alberta is financing the program with funds from the federal government’s early learning and child care (ELCC) infrastructure program.

“We welcome this announcement,” said Susan Cake, Chair of Child Care Now’s Alberta chapter.

“The Canada-wide ELCC agreement signed by the governments of Alberta and Canada requires the expansion of not-for-profit and public licensed child care but so far we have seen mostly expansion of commercial programs. We are hopeful that these funds will help address this imbalance,” she added.

Those eligible to apply are:

• Non-profit organizations comprising:
  • societies under the Societies Act RSA 2000 c S-14, Part 9
  • companies under the Companies Act RSA 2000 c C-21
  • corporations that are registered under the Alberta Corporate Registry (non-profit)

• Municipalities as defined in the Municipal Government Act

• First Nations and Indigenous communities and schools incorporated under non-profit entities

• Public bodies, such as:
  • school divisions as defined in Alberta’s Education Act
  • public or non-profit post-secondary institutions

The grant program also prioritizes spaces in high-need areas with limited or no child care options, underserved communities, and communities with barriers to access. A high-needs area is defined as a community in need with a coverage rate of less than 33 per cent.

Rural and remote communities will also be given priority for funding, and includes the municipalities outside the 12 major cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Sherwood Park, Lethbridge, Airdrie, Fort McMurray, St. Albert, Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, Spruce Grove and Leduc.

“This announcement is positive news in contrast with the same-day news that the Alberta government will be taking away parent fee subsidies from low-income families,” said Morna Ballantyne, Executive Director of Child Care Now.

“Building new licensed facilities is essential to address the big gap between the supply of programs and family demand for quality early learning and child care, “ Ballantyne said. “However, there is little point putting money into creating more programs if they are not universally affordable.”

The Building Blocks program will offer two categories of grants: a major capital grant for projects $500,000 and more, up to a maximum of $30,000 per child care space, and a minor capital grant for projects less than $500,000, and a maximum of $10,000 per space. Both of these streams are improvements over the prior space creation grants which had limited funding.

Recipients are required to operate and maintain the created spaces from the licensed issuance date for five years with a minor grant and 15 years with a major grant.

The government is accepting applications from January 30 to March 15, 2025, provided the funding target has not been met before then.

Further information from the Government of Alberta about the Building Blocks Capital Grant Program is available here.