Nova Scotia has announced more funding to support child-care providers across the province.
On Friday morning, the province said it will offset the 25 per cent fee reduction for parents that was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a joint news conference with the N.S. government last month.
The new funding will also provide a one-time grant to cover operational costs for providers who were asked to freeze parent fees in July, when the province signed on to the federal child care agreement.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Becky Druhan said today the money includes $35 million from the previously announced funding deal with Ottawa and $1 million of new money from the province.
Payments ranging from $500 to $16,000 will be distributed to 330 small, medium and large child care centres across the province.
The province said this will be offered to all child-care providers, “including licensed centres that were previously unfunded or partially funded.”
This comes after a series of announcements to reduce child-care costs in the province, and fears from providers they won’t have resources to keep up with the demand.
- RCMP arrests alleged hitmen accused of killing B.C. Sikh leader
- Fall COVID-19 vaccine guidelines are out. Here’s what NACI recommends
- Some 2019 candidates ‘appeared willing’ to engage with foreign interference: Hogue inquiry
- Thousands of Canada’s rail workers have a strike mandate. What happens now?
“We’ve heard from many operators, early childhood educators and families,” said Druhan in the Friday release.
“Together, we will provide Nova Scotian families with affordable child care of the highest quality. We will work with our operators to build a system that cares for all Nova Scotians — children, families, ECEs, operators.”
The province recently laid out its plan to reduce average child care fees in Nova Scotia by 50 per cent by the end of this year.
The Nova Scotia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, announced in January, promised families an average 25 per cent reduction in child-care fees as of April 1, 2022, retroactive to the start of the year. For parents and guardians, this will mean around $200 of savings each month.
That agreement was the first phase of Trudeau’s plan to cut child-care costs down to $10 a day by 2026.
Licensed child-care operators will be asked to sign a new agreement by April 1, 2022, the release said.
The new funding could impact 330 licensed child-care centres across the province.
The provincial government said its annual funding for the sector is $132.6 million, including $54 million for pre-primary and more than $75 million for child care.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
Comments