News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Budget 2022 brings B.C. closer than ever to government’s planned $10-a-day child care; Through a new agreement with the federal government, fees for full-day infant and toddler care will be reduced by 50% to an average of approximately $20 a day by the end of 2022; Budget 2022 builds on that investment by cutting average fees for preschool and before- and after-school care to less than $20 a day for the 2023-24 school year."

Excerpt: "Early childhood educators are skilled professionals who care for children at the most important time of their lives. We can’t deliver child care without them and will need about 10,000 ECEs to join the profession over the next 10 years. The PNP program will help us address the ECE staff shortage throughout B.C. by helping us recruit more ECEs. We are also raising wages, expanding education and training, and offering bursaries for people who want to enter this rewarding and in-demand career."

Excerpt: "On April 1, 2022, the eligibility for these wage enhancements expanded to ensure more ECEs will benefit. Previously, the $4-an-hour wage enhancement program was only available to front-line ECEs working directly with children. Budget 2022 is providing nearly $80 million over the next three years to expand this enhancement to all ECEs directly employed by licensed child care programs, including Supported Child Development and Aboriginal Supported Child Development professionals with ECE certification."

Excerpt: "Under Budget 2021, the Province committed to expanding the number of $10 a Day spaces in B.C. by converting 3,750 licensed child care spaces into low-cost spaces for families. The B.C. government has now surpassed this goal by creating 4,015 $10 a Day spaces for families in communities throughout B.C."

Excerpt: "More parents in northern B.C. will be able to pursue work, school and other opportunities while knowing their children are cared for as the Province invests in nearly 280 new licensed child care spaces. "For years, parents in B.C. were left with a patchwork system where child care was treated as a luxury. As we enter the fifth year of our 10-year ChildCareBC plan, we are making significant progress to reverse this," said Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care. "We've been working to turn the corner by building new spaces, lowering fees and training the skilled professionals needed to offer quality child care as a core service available to every family that wants it at a price they can afford.""

Excerpt: "BC will allocate funds through its existing contract to support students for 3 to 4 academic years (fiscal year 2021 to 2022 through fiscal year 2023 to 2024 or fiscal year 2024 to 2025) and will ensure collaboration with Indigenous partners and rights holders on approaches to funding specific to Indigenous students. Students will continue to be able to apply for the student bursary stream at $500 per course (maximum of 8 courses per semester) to assist with tuition and living costs. Individuals actively working in child care who wish to upgrade their credentials will be able to continue to apply for the workforce bursary stream of up to $5,000 per semester to assist with tuition and other expenses such as loss of wages or travel. Amounts for the Indigenous bursary stream will be determined in consultation with Indigenous partners. Students can apply for bursaries for each semester they are taking courses, so one student can potentially receive multiple bursaries. BC commits to continuing to report out on outcomes for as long as the program is available through this funding."

Excerpt: "Applications are being accepted from child care providers to join the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program this year, which will enable them to offer low-cost child care, making life more affordable for thousands more families in B.C. Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month (for full-time, centre-based infant care) at facilities participating in the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI) to $200 a month, saving families an average of about $800 a month per child."

Excerpt: "The University of British Columbia is receiving a total of $1,294,439 in federal funding over 24 months, starting in April 2022, for their project titled PROmoting Early Childhood Outside (PRO-ECO). In partnership with 10 early learning and child care sites in Greater Vancouver, the University of British Columbia will research the effectiveness of outdoor play intervention. This project aims to create a locally guided and sustainable method for enhancing outdoor play environments that will be scalable to other early learning and child care centres across Canada."

Excerpt: "A one-time $49.2-million investment by the Government of Canada through the 2021-22 to 2024-25 Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement will better support workforce development in the child care sector. This includes $25.5 million to help provide ECE bursaries for three academic years, which began in September 2021. Since the launch of ChildCareBC in 2018, the ECE Education Support Fund has provided 12,300 bursaries to support more than 6,500 students pursuing a career in early childhood education."

Excerpt: "More students in grades 11 and 12 will be able to earn both high school and post-secondary credits toward careers in early childhood education with the introduction of 30 new dual-credit programs at school districts throughout B.C."

Excerpt: "The Ministry of Education and Child Care is investing $8.2 billion to support students, invest in schools and support the transition and delivery of child care. Of this total, there is $7.4 billion for kindergarten to Grade 12 education this year, which is $1.8 billion more than in 2016-17. This is a total increase of 32%."

Excerpt: "The Province is making education accessible by working with Capilano University (CapU) on a new centre for childhood studies that will more than double the available child care spaces on campus. Slated to open late 2024, the centre will add 74 affordable new child care spaces for a total of 143 on-campus spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Students, employees and community members are all eligible to apply for space for their children at the new centre."