Calgary Herald

Province adds 6,000 child-care slots at $25 a day

- CLARE CLANCY twitter.com/clareclanc­y cclancy@postmedia.com

EDMONTON Premier Rachel Notley trumpeted 100 new child care centres across Alberta with fees capped at $25 per day.

“Child care costs can often rival mortgage payments,” she said Wednesday at NorQuest College, where one of the new centres will open.

The move expanded a $10-million pilot project that saw the creation of 22 early learning and child care centres in 2017, following a bilateral agreement with the federal government.

Ottawa promised $46 million per year over three years for the program.

The 6,000 new spaces announced Wednesday will cost $4.5 million in additional provincial funding.

Families have needed to search for less expensive child care due to pricey services, Notley said.

“These high-quality non-profit child care centres tended to be very expensive,” she said. “If you weren’t eligible for the subsidy, you were paying well over $1,000 a month for each child.”

Parents are estimated to save an average of $425 a month under the new program, according to the government.

The NDP unveiled 82 locations, including 35 centres in the Edmonton region, with spots opening in Spruce Grove and St. Albert. The remaining locations will be publicly announced later.

“It is a No. 1 priority for us as our finances increase to be able to invest in this,” Notley told reporters, adding most of the centres will be operationa­l in June.

Creating affordable child care was part of the NDP’s election platform in 2015, with Notley touting the need for access to quality services.

Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee said the new centres will create 400 jobs. Plus, parents will have better options to return to work, she said.

“By adding 100 more (centres) across Alberta, we’re allowing roughly 1,400 parents, mostly women, to find better employment opportunit­ies.”

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