Child Care Subsidy

Overview

Eligible lower-to-middle income families can apply for funding if they are using:

• licensed day care centres
• licensed group family child care
• approved family day homes
• licensed out-of-school care centres
• licensed pre-schools and
• approved early childhood development programs

Maximum subsidy rates (PDF, 36 KB) vary by program type and the age of child attending child care.

Types of subsidies

These are the types of subsidies you can apply for:

Child Care Subsidy

• Assists eligible families with children 0-12 years of age and not yet in Grade 7 to pay child care costs for children enrolled in:
  • an approved family day home
  • a licensed day care program
  • licensed out-of-school care program
  • licensed group family child care program
• A family attending an Early Learning and Child Care Centre if eligible, can use their Child Care subsidy to pay their parent portion of the child care fee.

Kin Child Care Funding Program

• Provides funds for relatives to care for children. The following funding is available:
  • up to $400 per month for children 6 or younger and not yet attending Grade 1
  • up to $200 per month for children 6 or younger attending Grade 1
  • up to $200 per month for children not yet attending Grade 7
• Applicants must demonstrate a valid reason for care for:
  • a minimum of 50 hours per month for 0 to Kindergarten (pre-school age children)
  • a minimum of 25 hours per month for children in Grades 1 to 6

Extended Hours Child Care Subsidy

• Assists families with a valid reason for care outside of the regular hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on weekends to receive in conjunction with Child Care Subsidy an additional $100 per month per child.
• The licensed or approved program must be approved to offer extended hours of care.
• Child must require 4 or more hours of extended hours of care in a month for the family to receive the additional $100.

Stay-at-Home Parents Support

• Assists families where at least one parent stays at home to care for children 6 years of age and younger and does not work or go to school for more than 20 hours per week.
• Eligible families who have one parent who stays at home or works, volunteers or attends school less than 20 hours per week may qualify for a subsidy of up to $1,200 per year for each pre-school-aged child who attends a licensed pre-school or an approved early childhood development program.

For more information, read the Guide to Completing your Application for Child Care Subsidy (PDF, 363 KB).

Finding child care

Learn more about what to look for when finding child care.

You can also use the Child Care Lookup tool to find information about licensed child care programs.

Estimate your subsidy

Find out the approximate amount of your subsidy using our online subsidy estimator. The estimator calculates potential subsidy for families who require full-time child care (100+ hours a month). Information you provide in the estimator is not shared or saved.

The estimator does not calculate subsidy for KCC, SAH or Extended Hours. To calculate your estimated subsidy for these hours, contact Alberta Supports Contact Centre at 1-877-644-9992 between the hours of 7:30 am and 8:00 pm Monday through Friday. Have your Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment on hand.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

You can apply for a subsidy if:

• you or your spouse/partner, or the child receiving care are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and live in Alberta
• you or your spouse/partner are an Alberta resident
• your children are 12 years of age or younger and are not yet attending Grade 7
• you and your spouse/partner are:
  • currently working, attending school, looking for work or have special needs or your child has a special need, or
  • stay-at-home and have your children enrolled in a licensed pre-school or approved early childhood development program

Eligible programs

Programs eligible to be covered by the subsidy include:

• programs that promote parent and child literacy
• play-based early childhood programs (e.g., moms and tots programs)
• educational programs that help parents meet their child’s learning and developmental needs
• licensed pre-schools

Ineligible programs

Programs not eligible to be covered by the subsidy include:

• child care where parents remain on-site (for example, bingo halls, exercise facilities, etc.)
• services that currently provide cost-free programs (for example, Parent Link Centres)

How to apply

The subsidy starts at the beginning of the month a completed application is received. You can apply as early as the month before your child is starting child care. For example, if your child’s start date is September 1st, you can apply as early as August 1st.

You cannot receive subsidy for a backdate.

Step 1. Review the guide

Guide to Completing your Application for Child Care Subsidy (PDF, 363 KB)

Step 2. Complete an application

If you have questions or having difficulty filling out your application, call Alberta Supports Contact Centre at 1877-644-9992 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday – Friday.

You can apply for child care subsidy using one of the following ways:

Online

Apply online here

If you apply online, please submit the Consent Applicant Declaration and Acknowledgement form (PDF, 122 KB).

Fill out the form

Download and fill out the Application for Child Care Subsidy (PDF, 260 KB) form.

Email, fax or mail the form.

Fax: 780-422-5692
Email: css.childsubsidy@gov.ab.ca

Address:
Child Care Subsidy
PO Box 1641, Station M
Edmonton, Alberta  T5J 2N9

If you or your child’s reason for care is a special need, you must submit a completed Verification for Need for Child Care – Special Needs (PDF, 305 KB).

After you apply

If your application is approved

If approved for subsidy, you will receive a letter indicating the subsidy start and end date and the amount your child care program will receive on your behalf.

For Kin Child Care Subsidy applicants, upon approval of your subsidy, you will be mailed direct deposit forms. Each month complete and submit a direct deposit form to receive a Kin Child Care subsidy payment. You will need to provide a void check or a complete Direct Deposit form to allow payments to be made. A Direct Deposit form will be mailed to you with your subsidy approval letter.

If your application is not approved

If your application is not approved, you will receive a Refusal Letter stating the reasons why subsidy was not approved. You can request a review of a subsidy decision by submitting the Administrative Review Request form within 30 days from the date of the decision.

If your supporting documentation is not submitted

If you did not submit all of your supporting documentation including the CRA Consent Applicant Declaration and Acknowledgement form (PDF, 122 KB) when you applied, you will be given a two-month conditional approval period to submit them. Once all necessary documents are received and approved, subsidy may be provided for the remainder of the grant time frame. You will be responsible for returning any funds paid if all documentation is not submitted within the time period specified.

Changing personal information

Report a personal change of information as soon as possible. Changes to your personal information can result in an increase or decrease in subsidy benefits, and you may have to pay some of the subsidy back. The subsidy does not backdate.

There are various reasons why you need to update your information, including:

• you or the co-applicant no longer require child care
  • for example, you are no longer working, not attending school, no longer have special needs or you have looked for work longer than 2 months
• you have an increase or decrease in annual income that may impact your subsidy benefits

Other reasons to change your information:

• addition, removal or transfer of a child in child care
• change in your caregiver’s address
• change in marital status
• change of address or telephone number
• change of an applicant, co-applicant or dependant name
• change in the number of people in your family structure (e.g. addition of a dependant)
• change in “On Reserve” or “Métis Settlement” status

You can report changes report changes online or print a Change of Information form (PDF, 59 KB) and submit it and supporting documentation to the Provincial Subsidy Office.

Email: css.childsubsidy@gov.ab.ca
Fax: 780-422-5692

Mailing address:
Child Care Subsidy
PO Box 1641, Station M
Edmonton, Alberta  T5J 2N9

Appeal a subsidy decision

If you would like a decision about your subsidy to be reviewed, fill out the Request for a Review of a Subsidy Decision (PDF, 75 KB) form.

Renew your subsidy

In order to ensure continuous subsidy, you must renew it before it expires. We will send you a notice to let you know when it is time, or you can contact Alberta Supports Contact Centre to find out when your subsidy ends. You can renew your subsidy as early as the first day of the month in which your subsidy ends (for example, if your subsidy expires August 31st, you can renew your subsidy as early as August 1^st.

You can renew online.

Contact

For general inquiries about child care subsidy:

Hours: 7:30 am to 8:00 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-644-9992 (in Edmonton)
Toll free: 1-877-644-9992
Email: css.childsubsidy@gov.ab.ca