Oct 4, 2026 · 56 min · 12 segments
After a panic from parents on the potential loss of a $10-a-day daycare program, the status quo remains, at least until April. In the strive to make childcare more affordable, what are the hurdles to…
Rhonda LonoGuest
Patrice GordonGuestYolande Pottie-ShermanGuest
Laura HowellsMeredith LoveysGuestAshley Braunweiler
And I know I don't have to tell parents how expensive that childcare can be.
They can even be a deciding factor in whether parents decide, is it worth it? Is it worth it for one of us to go back to work? Or should mom or dad just stay home with the kid? And statistically, that often ends up being the mom who leaves the workforce if daycare costs are too high.
So This is something that really affects families, really affects women, and something that affects a lot of people I know in this province and across the country.
Yeah, and when it comes to cheap rates for daycare, when the idea was first floated around this, it's a super enticing thing.
$10 a day daycare, you know, music to a lot of parents' ears, I'm sure.
So flashback to 2023, the province brings in $10 a day childcare as part of this big Canada-wide initiative.
And at the time, the province estimated that this would save parents here more than $6,000 a year.
No small change at all, right? Like that is something, $6,300 a year for the estimate.
Great news for parents at the time if you're a family looking at the cost of living and everything else.
Some of those parents who do currently have $10 a day daycare got a bit of a shock last month when they got this letter saying that those rates might be going up.
It's this organization that represents a bunch of child care places in the province, more than 6,000 spaces.
And so what these daycares were saying is, you know, they got some serious issues and some operators might have to pull out of the $10 a day program.
And so if a daycare wants that funding in order to offer that cost, it has to follow certain rules and standards.
And I know I don't have to tell parents how expensive that childcare can be.
They can even be a deciding factor in whether parents decide, is it worth it? Is it worth it for one of us to go back to work? Or should mom or dad just stay home with the kid? And statistically, that often ends up being the mom who leaves the workforce if daycare costs are too high.
So This is something that really affects families, really affects women, and something that affects a lot of people I know in this province and across the country.
Yeah, and when it comes to cheap rates for daycare, when the idea was first floated around this, it's a super enticing thing.
$10 a day daycare, you know, music to a lot of parents' ears, I'm sure.
So flashback to 2023, the province brings in $10 a day childcare as part of this big Canada-wide initiative.
And at the time, the province estimated that this would save parents here more than $6,000 a year.
No small change at all, right? Like that is something, $6,300 a year for the estimate.
Great news for parents at the time if you're a family looking at the cost of living and everything else.
Some of those parents who do currently have $10 a day daycare got a bit of a shock last month when they got this letter saying that those rates might be going up.
It's this organization that represents a bunch of child care places in the province, more than 6,000 spaces.
And so what these daycares were saying is, you know, they got some serious issues and some operators might have to pull out of the $10 a day program.
And so if a daycare wants that funding in order to offer that cost, it has to follow certain rules and standards.
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