Cost and Types of Child Care Services in Canada 2022

There are many types of child care, but the most common are half-day, full-day, and school-age child care. Here’s a look at the cost and types of each type of child care service in Canada today.

The costs are also broken down into different child care categories, including adult-to-child ratios, ECE wages, and facility size.

These types of services are typically more expensive than full-day care, but prices will decrease once the new federal rules come into effect.

Full day Child care

The latest report has estimated that Calgary will soon surpass Toronto in the price of child care.

Fees for preschoolers in Calgary are projected to drop by 50 percent by 2022. Toronto, however, will remain the most expensive city.

And by 2024, fees for regulated child care services in Ontario will be no more than $10 per day. By 2022, fees for full-day child care will be as low as $10 per day, which is a significant reduction in today’s prices.

Half Day child care

A federal target to reduce the cost of Half Day child care by 50 percent by 2022 has been introduced by the government.

While this mandate will apply to all provinces and territories, many have chosen to make their own changes. Some have chosen to lower fees at the provincial level, or have changed their subsidy system to offer flat-rate rebates. Other jurisdictions will rely on other measures to lower costs.

In the meantime, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg are predicted to fall well short.

School-age Child care

The government of Canada recently signed a $10-a-day agreement with Ontario, the province’s largest province, to provide low-cost child care services. By 2022, this agreement will reduce the cost of full-time child care by more than half, to under $10 per day. By 2022, the federal government will also provide more certainty around out-year funding, through a package of policies that include a mandated minimum day-care fee and a subsidized childcare program.

The government has partnered with provinces and territories across Canada to implement the plan. The new plan is already making life more affordable for Canadian families, increasing economic activity, helping parents enter the workforce, and growing the middle class.

Kindergarten

The federal government has agreed to reduce the cost of licensed child care in Canada by as much as 50 percent by 2022. This reduction is expected to save Ontario families more than C$1.1 billion each year.

However, the average cost of child care is only about half as high as those for younger children. This is because the need for more staff means higher fees.

While the savings would be substantial, they would be smaller for parents of pre-schoolers and older toddlers.

Unregulated family child care

Unregulated family child care is an alternative to licensed daycare. It is provided in a home by a caregiver or by a family member. While there are no set regulations regarding these services, many provinces have age restrictions that prevent the placement of younger children.

Parents in this situation must evaluate the quality of care provided by a caregiver and manage the relationship with the provider. Unregulated child care is illegal in Canada but is permitted in some areas, such as Yukon and Saskatchewan.

According to the latest data, the number of children in Canada under the age of six in both regulated and unregulated family child care programs decreased by six percent in the last year.

While children younger than six in Alberta were more likely to attend an unregulated family child care program than their older siblings, the number of children in these settings decreased over the past three years. The increase in costs, however, is not the only constraint on the availability of quality child care.

Cost of child care in Canada

The federal government has pledged to significantly lower the cost of child care by then, but it is unclear what it will achieve.

The federal government’s new plan will provide more affordable child care services for families across the country. The government has pledged to invest $30 billion over the next five years in the program, which will help parents and the economy grow.

It also aims to bring $10 per day of child care to every province in Canada by 2026. In July, B.C. became the first province to sign on to the program, which promised to reduce licensed child care fees by 50%.

By 2025, parents in these provinces will be able to take advantage of the lower fees for child care services in Canada.