A provincial state of emergency remains in effect due to numerous wildfires.
For wildfire related information, call the 24-hour info line at 310-4455 (available in 200+ languages) or visit alberta.ca/emergency.
A provincial state of emergency remains in effect due to numerous wildfires.
For wildfire related information, call the 24-hour info line at 310-4455 (available in 200+ languages) or visit alberta.ca/emergency.
Under the Canada-Alberta Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, $3.8 billion will be invested over five years to lower fees for parents with children zero to kindergarten age accessing licensed child care and strengthen child care for families in Alberta.
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:
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:
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.