Child-care funding 'music to our ears,' advocates, parents say
Government investing $30B over 5 years to offset cost of early learning and child care
Parents and advocates for affordable child care in Ottawa say the promises made in Monday's federal budget were a long time coming, but certainly welcome.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the federal government will invest roughly $30 billion over five years to help offset the cost of early learning and child-care services.
The investment follows decades of broken promises and half measures on child care, and is designed to reduce what parents pay for care in the coming years. The goal is to drive down child-care costs within five years to just $10 a day per child, nationwide.
That's a huge drop compared to what families in Ottawa are paying now. The median cost of daycare in Ottawa last year was $1,140 per month, according to budget documents.
Becca Carroll, 28, said most parents in Ottawa are currently paying between $50 and $100 a day, so the relief will be welcome.
"It would be really great. Quebec already does this. They have a set amount per day that's subsidized for children, and I think that really helps," said Carroll, whose two-year-old daughter will likely start daycare in the fall.
'It's like they've been listening'
Child-care advocates are thrilled by the announcement, according to Kim Hiscott, executive director of Andrew Fleck Children's Services, a local child-care provider.
"It's like they've been listening. All the details that are included in the budget are just music to our ears," Hiscott said. "It feels now like early learning and child care is at the same level, is at the same value as education and health care."
Samantha Bush, 24, is hoping the funding will make it more affordable for parents, especially mothers, to return to work. Bush said since she first returned to work last April, about half of her income has been paying for her child's daycare.
"I'm essentially making ... $8 an hour now. I'm making less than minimum wage for my time because I have to pay for somebody else to watch my child," she said.
With files from John Paul Tasker