Alberta signs extension on child-care deal with Ottawa, but only for a year
CBC
Ottawa will provide an additional $1.17 billion to Alberta in order to extend the federal-provincial subsidized child-care program for another year.
The previous agreement was set to expire April 1, 2026. The new deal will run through March 31, 2027.
Federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu announced the new deal alongside Alberta Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides on Friday afternoon.
Hajdu described affordable, high-quality child care as not just a benefit to children but also "an economic tool" that saves families thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars annually and lets more parents participate in the labour force.
"When parents can find good, reliable child care, they can work, train or build a business," she said.
Nicolaides called the deal an "important bridge" that will provide both stability and time for the two levels of government to negotiate a more long-term agreement.
“We’re excited about the prospects of this new deal,” he said.
“We could’ve rushed into a long-term deal that maybe was not the best fit for Alberta, or we could try to find a temporary measure to continue our work to find a system that actually meets the needs of all Alberta families.”
Alberta is the last province to sign on to an extension.
Seven other provinces signed on to five-year extensions with the federal government back in March, while Ontario signed an agreement in principle. It was one of the final acts of former prime minister Justin Trudeau before he left office.
In November, Saskatchewan signed a five-year extension and Ontario signed a one-year extension.
Ottawa and Alberta have been at odds in the past on some aspects of how the child-care agreement should function.
Alberta was one of the last provinces to sign on to the original deal in 2021, as then-premier Jason Kenney criticized the federal approach as too "cookie-cutter" and not flexible enough for parents.
The original agreement was signed in November 2021 with an initial goal of $10-per-day child care.
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