Province cuts child care fees

The B.C. government is providing parents with financial relief for their child care costs.

Starting in December, parents will save as much as $550 per month for each child they have in participating licensed child care centres.

The province is directly funding licensed child care centres so families don’t have to apply for the savings. The funding will lower fees for children, kindergarten-aged and younger.

The government says the savings build on earlier fee cuts introduced as part of a $2.7-billion investment in ChildCareBC since 2018.

“Child care is one of the biggest bills many families face each month,” said Katrina Chen, B.C.’s Minister of State for Child Care. “Cutting child care fees again, this time by as much as $550 a month more per child, is one way we are taking action to put money back in people’s pockets at a time when rising global inflation is making life more expensive.”

As part of the new fee cut, the province is increasing payments to child care providers by 100 per cent or more.

“These payments are designed to help ensure providers can continue providing quality care for children, help them fight rising costs and reduce the need to pass on these costs to families,” a government news release stated.

The province says the monthly fee cuts mean that parents will be saving as much as $6,600 more a year for each child in licensed care at facilities participating in the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, depending on their children’s ages and the type of care they are receiving.