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Ottawa announces $6 billion transfer to Quebec aimed at strengthening child care

Aug 5, 2021 | 9:34 AM

MONTREAL — The Canadian government is giving Quebec about $6 billion over five years, a significant portion of which will go to the province’s child-care network.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement today alongside Premier François Legault in Montreal.

Trudeau has been travelling the country in recent weeks, announcing hundreds of millions of dollars in agreements with provinces to create a national child-care system.

The prime minister says his government’s national plan was inspired by Quebec’s child-care network, and the deal announced today will create tens of thousands of new spaces in that province and reduce fees.

Canada has already signed child-care deals with British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador — ahead of what reports say could be an end-of-summer federal election campaign.

Trudeau says the various agreements with provinces outside Quebec will allow them to create $10-dollar-a-day child care places in a few years and raise wages for educators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.

The Canadian Press