Ottawa not on track to meet 2026 deadline for $10-a-day child care: report

Alessia Passafiume · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 8:59 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Ottawa is expected to miss its 2026 deadline to instrumentality $10-a-day kid attraction services crossed the country, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said successful a caller study published connected Wednesday.

The investigation concluded that conscionable six provinces and territories are gathering that interest people now.

David Macdonald, an economist with the centre, said adjacent though fees person dropped importantly everywhere, the national authorities is improbable to conscionable its self-imposed deadline.

"It's astir definite that adjacent aft the 2026 deadline passes, galore parents successful 5 provinces volition beryllium paying much than $10 a time for kid care," Macdonald said.

"That being said, the interest drops for parents truthful acold person been staggering successful Ontario, Alberta and Nunavut, arsenic these jurisdictions had fto fees get acold excessively precocious earlier the national program."

The $10-a-day kid attraction program, announced successful 2021, was a signature argumentation of erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau.

The study says conscionable six provinces and territories — Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador — person met oregon improved upon the government's 2026 people for $10-a-day kid care.

Five provinces — Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, B.C. and New Brunswick — bash not yet person plans to trim fees to $10 a day, the study says.

Cities successful those provinces person the highest costs for kid care, says the study — for illustration parents successful Richmond, B.C. are paying median fees of $39 per time for infants, astir 4 times the people fee.

The national government's extremity was for fees to "average" $10 a day, but Macdonald called that a "get retired of jailhouse escaped card" that volition permission parents paying much than that magnitude aft the deadline passes.

"I deliberation that this volition go a governmental occupation successful April of 2026 erstwhile folks say, 'Wait a second, this is simply a $10-a-day kid attraction program, but I'm paying $12, $17, $20 a day,"' helium said.

GTA sees driblet important driblet successful fees 

Jurisdictions similar Ontario that already had precocious fees are seeing savings of astir $1,300 per period successful Toronto and $1,000 per period successful the surrounding area, the study found.

In Toronto and Ottawa, the median interest for infants is $22 per day, the study says. That's down from conscionable nether $86 a time 5 years ago, said Morna Ballantyne, enforcement manager of Child Care Now, an advocacy radical that was progressive successful the report. 

"In the GTA, the fees person dropped truly dramatically, much than conscionable astir anyplace other due to the fact that the fees were truthful precocious earlier the instauration of the national program," Ballantyne said successful an interrogation with CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Wednesday. 

Macdonald said that's mostly due to the fact that regulations person forced prices down.

"Across the board, we saw the provinces that had the fewest restrictions connected fees and fto the fees truly get retired of control, you spot truly large savings erstwhile you measurement successful and modulate those fees," helium said.

Macdonald said it's improbable Ontario and Alberta volition conscionable the 2026 people but noted the "big progress" successful those provinces and others.

WATCH | Ontario threatens to chopped backing for daycares not enrolled successful $10/day program: 

Fees successful Quebec person accrued somewhat since 2019. Macdonald said that's mostly owed to inflation, with the province's time interest sitting astir $0.70 beneath the $10 target.

Macdonald said that arsenic fees drop, different occupation volition proceed to turn — the deficiency of child-care spaces.

"At this point, determination isn't enough. The information that fees are overmuch little drives a batch much demand," helium said.

"Now the existent question volition be, tin we rapidly physique those spaces truthful that determination are capable spaces for radical to really entree these much affordable prices?"

A immense situation to creating those spaces is attracting and retaining radical to enactment astatine them, partially owed to debased wages, said Ballantyne. 

"If we're trying to turn a system, particularly [a] child-care strategy wherever it's a precise labour intensive manufacture ... you request a batch of radical who are trained and consenting to enactment successful the sector," she said. 

"And unfortunately, determination are galore aboriginal puerility educators who are afloat qualified but are incapable to enactment successful kid attraction due to the fact that the wages are truthful mediocre and the benefits truthful few."

Martha Friendly, who works with the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, said that to debar "child-care deserts," much nationalist and non-profit kid attraction spaces should beryllium created countrywide.

"The enlargement of the child-care workforce is besides key, emphasizing the hiring of much workers and the retention of existing ones," Friendly said.

"The lessons of what works truthful acold has been clear. We request chiefly nationalist and non-profit services, affordable acceptable fees for parents and just wages and bully moving conditions for workers."