Federal Government makes commitment to child care
The news release notes that the federal government committed $7.5 billion in 2017, spread over an 11-year period, towards increasing the number of high-quality, affordable child care across the country.
The federal government has now committed to work with the various jurisdictions (the provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Metis Nation governments) to invest an additional $400 million in 2020-21 to create more affordable child care spaces throughout the country, in response to “the COVID-19 pandemic which has laid bare how critical accessible, affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care is for our families, our children and our economy. Too often parents, particularly women, are having to make very difficult choices between their jobs and taking care of their families, choices that may have decades-long impacts on their careers”. In July, the federal government also announce $625 million in 2020-21 to address “the reduced availability of child care and the unique needs of the child care sector stemming from the pandemic across Canada”.