Families reeling after Alberta ends child-care subsidy
Province moving to flat monthly fee of $326 on April 1
Some Alberta parents were caught off guard by changes announced Thursday that will raise their daycare bills by hundreds of dollars a month starting April 1.
"It's shocking," said Robyn Sloboda, a Grande Prairie resident with two children in daycare. "We're really hoping we can make ends meet."
Jobs, Economy, and Trade Minister Matt Jones announced Thursday that every Alberta parent with a child in full-time daycare will pay a flat rate of $326.25 a month.
The amount works out to about $15 a day, regardless of where a family lives in the province. Child-care providers will see an increase in the subsidies they get from the government.
While Jones touted the flat fee as a measure to ensure affordability and predictability, he put less emphasis on the end of the Child Care Subsidy Program on March 31 for infants to children of kindergarten age.
The ministry's annual report for the 2023-24 fiscal year said 68,900 children in that age range received some level of subsidy.
WATCH | Some parents frustrated by end of subsidy:
Later Thursday, Jones told child-care providers during an online town hall he believed everyone should pay their fair share.
"We believe everybody should be contributing to the cost of childcare, keeping in mind that the average Albertan will be receiving a valuable service that is at 80 per cent discount to out-of-pocket fees," Jones said during the town hall.
"I think there will be more predictable and transparent parent fees coming in to providers on a monthly basis."
Jones said he is concerned that child-care fees can vary wildly even within the same geographic area, and he wanted that to change.
Financial sacrifices
The news came as a shock to many parents — particularly for those with more than one child in daycare — who are now facing a large blow to their monthly budgets in two months.
Renee Brochu and her husband have two children, ages two and one, in daycare. She said the child-care subsidy for both kids brought their daycare bill to $176 a month.
Brochu said the change has caused a lot of fear and uncertainty for the Edmonton couple. She just returned to work after maternity leave last month.
"Now we have to find an extra almost $500 a month come April in order to send our kids to daycare full-time," Brochu said.
"It'll be difficult. It'll be tight making a whole bunch of changes and sacrifices ... just to afford child care now."
Brochu said she will try to pick up some extra shifts to make ends meet.
Robyn Sloboda's two boys are 20 months and four years old. The family pays $48 a month for both children to attend a registered daycare, and another $75 monthly fee for lunches and snacks.
Sloboda learned about the funding change via an email from the director of her children's daycare. She said her family could have prepared better for the increased costs if there had been more notice that the subsidy would be ending.
She said she already tries to cut costs by buying second-hand clothes for the family and choosing less expensive food at the grocery store.
She worries her family may not be able to easily absorb unexpected costs — this month brought a $550 veterinary bill — or pay down debt as fast as they hoped.
"We need to work. We need to provide for our families," Sloboda told CBC. "This extra cost is shocking. And we're really hoping we can make ends meet."
Alberta needs to create up to 68,700 new childcare spaces, with 42,500 allocated to public or non-profit facilities, under the $3.8 billion Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement.
The agreement is intended to bring child care fees to $10 a day by 2026.
Jones said Alberta is increasing its annual contribution from $250 million to $720 million.
He said Alberta has created 31,000 new spaces so far.
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