Ottawa tells provinces how much money they're getting to build new child-care spaces

The Liberal government said Wednesday it has told the provinces how much of $625 million in infrastructure funding earmarked for child care they'll get to build new child-care spaces.

"Confident countries invest in themselves and their future, and today's announcement allows us to continue to build on this progress and deliver on our promise of $10-a-day child care for Canadian families," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

The money, first announced in the 2022 federal budget, will be spread out over four years. The money is being allocated based on the projected population of children in each province or territory. Participating provinces and territories must first agree to certain terms and conditions.

The details of those conditions were contained in the offer made to provinces Wednesday; they were not fully released to the public. Once a province agrees to the terms, its child-care agreement with the federal government will be amended and the money will begin flowing.

A government statement said that the funding is strictly earmarked for not-for-profit regulated child-care providers. The money can be used to pay for real estate and renovations as the federal government looks to create 250,000 additional child-care spaces.

A spokesperson for Families Minister Karina Gould told CBC News that provinces will be responsible for allocating the funding to individual providers.

He also said that provinces will be required to report to the federal government on where their share of infrastructure funding went.

In 2021, the federal government announced a $30 billion, five-yearchild-care plan. It said the plan would cut child-care costs to $10 a day by 2025-26, when the federal government begins providing a minimum of $9.2 billion annually for the program.

On Wednesday,Ottawa said all provinces have been able to cut child-care fees by 50 per cent and that it is on track to meet its $10 a day deadline.

Staffing issues remain

Experts welcomed the funding but warned it won't be enough to meet the federal government's expansion plans.

"Much more significant public investments in infrastructure are needed," said Morna Ballantyne, executive director of Child Care Now, a child care advocacy organization.

"Also, provincial and territorial governments cannot rely on existing providers alone to put in place new programs."

Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, a child-care advocacy group, told CBC News that "considerably more capital funding will be required to meet the expansion targets."

"If expansion is going to be rapid and equitably distributed, it needs to become a public, governmentresponsibility to organize and plan it," she said."Each province and territoryneeds aconcrete public expansion plan.This would make the best use of the infrastructure funding."

Provinces need to step up: Trudeau

Experts also said that while initial funding has helped provinces cut child-care costs for existing spaces,more money is needed to boost wages to attract and retain child-care workers.

"Governments must move quickly to put in place, and fund, measures to raise wages and improve overall compensation as a first step to addressing the current crisis in retention," Ballantyne said.

She said working conditions need to be improved for child-care educators who "put in too many unpaid hours, do not receive adequate on-the-job supports and often work long hours without proper breaks."

Friendly said that while addressing wages and working conditions will be expensive, it is unavoidable if Canada wants to have an adequate number of spaces at $10 a day by the federal government's deadline.

"If these workforce issues are not seriously addressed,which they have not yet been,it will not be possible to expand to provide the high quality programs that children need to thrive, or even operate the ones we have," she said.

Trudeau said the provinces have to do their part as well.

"Our hope is the fact that the federal government has stepped up so massively that the provinces will do their part in stepping up and ensuring proper supports and a pay grid for early childhood educators," he said.

"This is work that we will continue doing together."