Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in British Columbia to make a big announcement with Premier John Horgan: the province of British Columbia is the first to reach an agreement on new spending on child care.

What does this mean for working families?

This means that Ottawa will work with the province to reach an average of $10-per-day child care in regulated spaces for children under six years old over the next five years.

As part of the agreement, British Columbia will see 30,000 new regulated child care spaces for children under 6 and parent fees will be cut in half by the end of next year. 

Here are some of the highlights of today's announcement:

• By the end of 2022, there will be a 50 per cent reduction in parent fees for children under 6 in licensed child care
• 30,000 new licensed early learning and child care spaces for children under 6 will be created by 2027, and 40,000 spaces by 2029
• All new spaces will be long-term community investments run by public and non-profit providers
• A provincial wage grid will be available for child care professionals as part of a compensation package 

The past year has taught us that child care is a key ingredient for every community and every part of the economy. By investing in child care, the federal and provincial governments are investing in an economic recovery strategy that works for more families, and especially for women.

Today's announcement will help pave the way towards a universal child care system that creates learning opportunities that children and their families need to thrive.

But our work isn't over.

We will continue to advocate together to ensure that today's promises become a reality. We need to ensure that child care professionals are well supported in their careers with compensation packages and development opportunities, and that families and children have the accessible and quality child care options that works for them. 

As implementation of this agreement moves forward, we look forward to continuing this work of holding governments to account and hearing all of your ideas about what the path forward for universal child care looks like.

In solidarity,

Stephanie Smith (she/her) 
BCGEU President

and

Andrea Duncan (she/her)
Community Social Services Vice President

UWU/MoveUP