Nova Scotia fees for licensed daycare to drop a further 25% on Dec. 31

Fees for Nova Scotia parents with children in regulated daycares will drop by a further 25 per cent beginning Dec. 31.

Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan says the new drop in fees builds on a 25 per cent reduction that took effect April 1.

Although the last fee cut happened ahead of schedule, this one is happening as scheduled.

Druhan says that with Monday's announcement, daycare fees in 2023 will be 50 per cent lower, on average, compared with 2019 for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

She says parents with a child in daycare will pay $23 less per day, or about $6,000 less a year, adding that about 3,000 families who use the province's child-care subsidy program will see their fees reduced to zero.

Although the province is on track when it comes to fees, Druhan confirmed to CBC News that Nova Scotia will fall about 400 spaces short of its target for the creation of new child-care spaces by the end of the year. 

Last June 1, Druhan said, "the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia announced that 1,500 new licensed early learning and child-care spaces will be created across the province by Dec. 31, 2022." 

On Monday, Druhan said operators would likely only be able to create 1,100 new spaces by the end of next month. There are currently 18,000 child care spaces in Nova Scotia.

"We're on track for the 1,500 before the end of the fiscal year, but certainly I'm sure, as we're familiar with in all other sectors, there are continued challenges in supply chain and in construction and in workforce. We know that every sector is experiencing those challenges and child care is no different than that," Druhan told CBC News following the announcement on the fee reduction.

Since January 2022, 14 licensed child care centres have closed, representing  289 child care spaces, the province said.

The fee reduction is being funded through the $605-million child-care agreement the province signed with Ottawa in 2021.

The owner of the Kingston, N.S., daycare that hosted Monday's announcement,  Margo Thomas, said the extra funding from the province will have no effect on her business. But it will be a "big deal" for the families who send their children to the Stepping Stone Pre-school and Child Care Centre.

That's because the province will be paying a larger share of the costs currently shouldered by parents.

"The families can put more money back into their households," said Thomas. "Activities are important for young children as well. So they have money for that.

"They can put maybe better food on the table because now they have more money to put into their grocery order ..., heating and ... even gas for their car to take their children to like parades and, you know, to visit relatives, all the important things that they need."

Julie MacNabb, whose son Steven attends the daycare, said the cut in fees might make it more affordable for some women to return to work after a maternity leave.

"Personally, because I just returned to the labour market this year after a maternity leave, some women don't have that opportunity," said MacNabb. "They're leaving their job. They're having to reduce their hours.

"Having quality, affordable child care gives us the ability to contribute to our local labour market."

Under the 2021 deal, Nova Scotia is to have 9,500 new daycare spaces costing an average of $10 a day by March 2026.