NDP MLAs say more $10 a Day child care spaces coming to Burnaby
BURNABY – New Democrat MLAs Janet Routledge, Anne Kang, Raj Chouhan and Katrina Chen say families in Burnaby will save money on child care as a local child care site becomes a $10 a Day ChildCareBC site where fees are capped at a maximum of $200 a month per child.
“As communities across the province continue to grow, we are continuing our record childcare investments,” says Janet Routledge, MLA for Burnaby North. “Burnaby is a welcoming place for families, and our government is committed to supporting them so that they can thrive.”
SFU Childcare Society (Bright Clouds) in Burnaby is becoming a $10 a Day ChildCareBC site, which means 426 child care spaces will have fees dramatically reduced for parents.
“I’m pleased with the work our government is doing to put people first. Under the previous government, childcare went underfunded, with families having to choose between quality care and making ends meet,” says Anne Kang, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake. “Prioritizing families and investments will make a real difference in their lives.”
Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month at participating facilities (for full-time, centre-based infant care) to $200 a month, saving families approximately $800 a month per child on average. The newly approved $10-a-day spaces are being offered at 18 child care centres throughout British Columbia and include 304 spaces for infants and toddlers, 552 spaces for children two and a half years old to kindergarten age, 385 spaces for school-age children and 132 preschool spaces. These additional spaces bring the total number of $10 a Day spaces in B.C. to 8,190.
“Burnaby is a diverse community, and each family has unique needs,” says Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds. “By investing in childcare, we’re ensuring that families will be supported no matter what comes their way.”
In addition to these spaces, the Province, with federal funding support, is helping parents with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10-a-day program through child care fee reductions of up to $550 more per month per child. These savings, which kick in on December 1st, are in addition to the $350 per month per child that families have been saving through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative since 2018, and approximately 69,000 families will benefit.
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“We doubled the number of $10-a-day spaces earlier this year and will be nearly doubling yet again by the end of 2022, with 1,373 spaces added this month alone,” said Katrina Chen, B.C.’s Minister of State for Child Care and MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed. “Affordable child care can be life changing, and we’re one step closer to making that a reality for all families in B.C.”
For more information on the $10 a Day ChildCareBC sites and spaces: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare10aDaysites