Minister of Children's Services, Rebecca Schulz, is joined virtually by Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, outside the Canada Place Child Care Society, to announce the new funding for child care in Alberta (photo courtesy of the Alberta Government)

By Liam Verster

Child Care Funding

Federal funding will provide additional support to Alberta’s child care sector

Sep 22, 2020 | 12:51 PM

The Government of Canada is providing $72-million to Alberta’s child care sector, to ensure child care providers meet the province’s COVID-19 guidelines..

The Provincial Government has already distributed $15-million to licensed and approved child care spaces in the province this month, bringing the total investment for reopening child care centres up to $87-million.

The child care spaces include licensed day cares, child care centres, out of school care centres, approved family day homes, and pre-schools.

The provincial funds, which were distributed earlier this month, saw $109 per approved and licensed child care space. This federal funding will see $200 distributed per child care space, plus an additional $2,500 grant to licensed programs and approved agencies. The federal funds will be gifted twice, once on October 15, and again on November 15.

Alberta’s Minister of Children’s Services, Rebecca Schulz, says when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the lockdowns, over 110,000 Alberta kids lost their access to child care and early learning services. While many places have been able to reopen, lots of child care centres, pre-schools and other licensed care providers have not been able to, as enrollment is still low across Alberta. Schulz says this new funding will help cover the costs for child care providers to reopen and resume their services.

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“From additional staffing, to cleaning supplies, safety equipment, PPE, necessary upgrades to comply with health guidelines, and overhead expenses not covered due to the closure.

“We need child care to support our economic recovery, so that more parents can go to work, knowing that their children are in a safe and healthy environment.”

Federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, joined Schulz for the announcement of the federal funding this morning, which is coming from the $625-million Safe Restart Agreement.

“When you add this to the funding that we’ve already committed, the Government of Canada will spend over $1-billion on early learning and child care this year across the country. This is a record amount, and we can all agree that extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary solutions, and this is what all Canadians expect of their governments. To work together, to have their backs, and to help them get back to work and recover in a more stronger and resilient manner.”

The Safe Restart Agreement is a collaborative effort from Provincial and Territorial Governments, and the Federal Government, to get Canadians back to work, and ensure their children are provided with safe, high quality learning environments. The Safe Restart Agreement is a six to eight month plan that will see $19-billion in investments help provinces and territories deliver and manage their COVID-19 related responses

This new funding is in addition to the $45-million Alberta is receiving through the newly-extended 2020-21 Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Bilateral Agreement, which is meant to support child care programs and services for Albertans. That money is going towards supporting working parents through increased subsidy rates, increasing supports for children with special needs, and providing grants to create spaces where they’re needed.