Parents in British Columbia were paying, on average, $802 per month on full-time care for each of their children under the age of five, in 2022, according to a Statistics Canada survey.
Those fees rank well above the national average of $649 per month. On a daily basis, B.C. child care comes out to $38 per day — a far reach from the $10-a-day programs the BC NDP government has often promised.
The survey otherwise presented more detailed costs, but on a national level.
Monthly child-care costs were slightly higher for children up to age three ($679), as opposed to children age four to five ($573). The survey did not inquire about older children.
The highest monthly child-care costs were for in-home nannies ($2,222), followed by centre-based care ($663), then in-home providers ($587) and finally a child’s relative ($293).
Relative care costs were brought down significantly because six in 10 relatives (ie. grandma and grandpa) did not charge any money.
The costs are also likely to be low, as they only reflect the main child-care provider and not any additional provider costs — and 16 per cent of children had two providers.
The survey reflects data from January and February 2022, noting this comes before the full implementation of the Canada-wide system of child-care subsidies by the provinces and territories.
“Budget 2021 specified two goals related to child-care fees and expenses: (1) a 50% reduction in average fees for regulated early learning and child care (ELCC) in all provinces outside Quebec, to be delivered before or by the end of 2022, and (2) an average fee of $10 a day by 2026 for all regulated child-care spaces in Canada,” the survey stated.
According to the provincial government’s website, more than 15,000 $10-a-day full-time child-care spaces will be available by the end of this year, up from 2,500 in 2018. However, there are 139,145 spaces in the province at centres that participate in government programs; 130,606 are recipients of the Child Care Operating Funding program; 76,560 have some form of fee reductions for parents.
