Thousands more subsidized daycare spaces coming to Alberta

More parents will soon be eligible for subsidized daycare spaces in Alberta, as the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a key component in the next phase of their funding agreement.

Up to 1,600 more spaces in private, for-profit facilities will become eligible for funding "immediately," according to Alberta Children's Services Minister Mickey Amery.

"Those are applications that we received from either existing or new operators who would like a space under the affordability program that have been vetted and deemed eligible for licensing at this point," Amery told CBC News in an interview.

Another 2,000 new spaces at private daycare centres are expected to qualify shortly after that, once licensing requirements are completed.

The news comes after months of complaints from private operators — and parents — who have been effectively shut out of the affordable child-care program.

The initial phase of the federal-provincial agreement put a limit on the number of private daycare spaces that could receive the funding.

Since that limit was reached last spring, new or expanded spaces at for-profit facilities have not been eligible for the subsidies, which have already cut daycare costs in half for many parents.

That has come as a surprise to many parents, as well as some operators who were in the process of setting up new or expanded daycare facilities as the initial phase of the program rolled out — only to find there were no subsidies available once those spaces came online.

In total, the federal-provincial agreement is expected to create 22,500 new, subsidized spaces at private facilities by 2026. This is in addition to 42,500 new spaces at not-for-profit daycare centres expected by then.

The goal of the program is to bring child-care costs down to $10 per day by 2026.

Federal and provincial ministers are set to announce more details at 12:45 p.m. today.

More to come ...