Media release from the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and the Early Childhood Educators of BC
February 28, 2023
BC Budget 2023 & Child Care: Lack of Profile or Next Steps to $10aDay….. but Commitments Remain
Child care progress highlighted for contribution to family affordability and growth in women’s employment.
Despite measurable progress since 2018, the ongoing increases in federal funding, and the acknowledgement of child care as an essential service, BC Budget 2023 was surprisingly silent on child care.
“We had to dig deep in the budget documents to see that the multi-year funding detailed in last year’s budget remain in place” noted $10aDay Researcher Lynell Anderson, CPA, CGA.
“We’re surprised there was no mention of the continuing fee reductions for families, including for preschool and school age child care”, stated Sharon Gregson, $10aDay Spokesperson. “Parents expected to see new targets for more $10aDay programs” she added.
There is still a crisis in the ECE sector emphasized Emily Mlieczko, ECEBC Executive Director. “The essential next step for government is to address recruitment and retention of Early Childhood Educators and recognize the pedagogy and ethical commitments of this work,”. “It is vital that this step includes an equitable ECE wage grid, with benefits, and establishes working conditions that will stabilize, and grow the profession to address the shortage of qualified educators.”
Too many families today are facing the worry of long waiting lists for a child care space. Government must fulfill its commitment to develop and implement a capital plan to build high quality, publicly-funded, community-owned facilities to meet local needs and priorities.
The next five years of the ten year $10aDay Plan are crucial, and we remain committed to working with governments to achieve an inclusive, high quality and equitable $10aDay child care system. We expect that government will continue to fulfill the commitments made under the Canada-wide Agreement with the federal government, and included in Minister Lore’s mandate letter, both of which must be aligned with UNDRIP.
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