New transition funding for child-care operators

Alberta’s child-care providers are essential to reaching this goal and share a commitment to helping further reduce fees for parents. To help operators implement new affordability supports for parents, the Government of Alberta will be directing $16.5 million in transitional funding to all licensed child-care providers participating in the agreement.

Child-care operators in this province work hard to provide quality, affordable care for Alberta families. This one-time, flexible funding is meant to help ease the transition for them and they can use it to address operational needs that may arise. Operators will receive a one-time transition grant of $211 per enrolled space early in the new year.

“Child-care providers play a pivotal role in building a high-quality, affordable Canada-wide early learning and child-care system. Today’s announcement by the Government of Alberta is an important and welcomed step to ensure that child-care providers in Alberta have the support they need to continue to provide excellent care to families across the province. The Canada-Alberta agreement will support families in Alberta, increase women’s participation in the workforce, and offer children the best possible start in life.”

“Each day, thousands of child-care providers in Alberta – many of which are women and family-operated small businesses – provide excellent care for families across the province. We are listening to their concerns and supporting them as we work together to make child care more affordable for working parents.”

“This government has done a great job listening to all licensed child-care operators. This additional funding shows they are responding to our concerns and is going to help support operators, like me, during the transition into the new child-care program.”

Fees will be reduced in two ways:

• Affordability grants will be provided directly to licensed child-care providers to lower child-care fees for all parents by a set amount.
• Income thresholds for child-care subsidy eligibility criteria will be raised up to $180,000 so more families can benefit.

If parents are already receiving a subsidy, they are already on their way to paying much lower fees. In January, the funding model may look a bit different because of the combination of grants and the subsidy, however parents will still be paying less overall for licensed child care.

Families earning more than $180,000 will still see savings through the affordability grant.

For example:

• A family earning $75,000 per year with one toddler attending a licensed daycare program full-time would be eligible for full subsidy. If the fee at the program is $1,000 per month, the daycare program will receive $510 per month in an affordability grant and the family would be eligible for $266 per month. The remaining parent portion is $224 per month or approximately $10 per day.
• A family earning $120,000 per year with one infant attending a licensed family day program full-time would be eligible for partial subsidy. If the fee at the program is $835 per month, the daycare program will receive $350 per month in an affordability grant and the family would be eligible for $253 per month. The remaining parent portion is $232 per month or approximately $11 per day.
• A family earning more than $180,000 per year with one infant attending a licensed daycare program full-time would benefit from the affordability grant. If the fee at the program was $1,100 per month, the daycare program will receive $635 per month in an affordability grant. The remaining parent portion is $465 per month or approximately $21 per day.

All parent fees will be reduced in January. Some operators are in a position to provide full fee reductions for parents on Jan. 1. Some operators may not be able to do that until February or after the money flows. Those operators will retroactively pass savings on to parents once they receive the funding (mid-January). If parents have questions, they can reach out to their operators.

For the most up-to-date information, please visit alberta.ca/childcaredeal.

Quick facts

• Transitional funding will be provided to all licensed child-care operators for children zero to kindergarten age.
• Operators can expect to receive $211 per enrolled space, based on October 2021 claims.
• In Alberta, $3.8 billion of federal funding will be invested in child care for children kindergarten-aged and younger over the next five years:
  • $2.865 billion to lower child-care fees for Alberta parents and continue to provide educators’ wage top-ups
  • $240.64 million to increase the number of child-care spaces
  • $202.6 million to develop and fund child-care options to support vulnerable and diverse populations as well as children with extra needs
  • $306.16 million to support licensed programs and certified educators in offering high-quality support for families in their communities
• Alberta will be cutting fees, on average, in half by January 2022 and by 2026 families will be paying an average of $10 per day per child.
• At least 42,500 new licensed child-care spaces will be created over the next five years.