Ottawa has been busy these past few years working with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to implement a Canada-wide early learning and childcare (ELCC) system. The program is bringing fees for regulated childcare across the country down to $10 a day, on average, by March 2026.
As part of the program, the federal government is aiming to create roughly 250,000 new childcare spaces across the country to give families affordable childcare options.
So far, more than half of the provinces and territories are delivering regulated early learning and childcare for an average of $10 a day or less, and the remaining jurisdictions have reduced fees by 50% or more compared to 2019 levels, according to Ottawa
