By Charles Lefebvre

NDP would expand $25-per-day child care if re-elected

Mar 25, 2019 | 4:36 PM

CALGARY, AB — If re-elected, the Alberta NDP says they will add more child care spaces across Alberta and institute a cap to care fees.

NDP leader Rachel Notley made the announcement Monday afternoon in Calgary, saying if elected, the province would cap child care fees in the province at $25 per day, and would add 13,000 more spaces across the province.

“Safe, quality, affordable child care is good for families – and it’s key to unlocking Alberta’s economic potential,” Notley said in a statement. “Finding safe, quality, affordable child care shouldn’t be a lottery – it should be something families in Alberta can depend on. If I’m re-elected as your Premier, child care will be the Medicare of the 21st century.”

The provincial NDP introduced the $25/day child care pilot project in 2017, which currently includes 122 centres and 7,300 spaces across the province. If re-elected, the NDP would invest $1.5 billion over five years towards child care to ensure families are able to pay $25 per day for child care, regardless of what they currently pay.

The province says a similar program was introduced in Quebec in the 1990s to help women participate in the workforce, which increased overall employment by 1.8 per cent and increased the province’s GDP by 1.7 per cent.

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According to a release from the NDP, the expansion would increase employment and add nearly $6 billion to the province’s GDP.

The Alberta Party has also issued their platform on child care ahead of the April 16 election.

If elected, the Alberta Party says they will expanded direct financial support to cover daycare costs for lower and middle-income families through a voucher system. They will also create a Ministry of Early Childhood focused on early childhood and early learning, and will also review the province’s child care legislation to find ways to make it easier to create more licensed, safe, affordable, high-quality child care spaces.

A new investment credit would also be established to encourage employers to create licensed child care spaces for children of employees.

The Alberta Party would also create a caregiver tax credit for families with children who do not use a licensed child care option or the proposed voucher system.

The United Conservative Party and the Alberta Liberal Party have not yet released platforms on childcare.