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The governments of Canada and Alberta have reached a one-year extension to their early learning and child-care agreements, pledging to keep fees at an average of $15 per day through March 2027.
The move has been welcomed by parents and operators but still criticized as a short-term fix that leaves families unsure about what comes next.
Federal Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu and Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides made the announcement Friday in Calgary, confirming that Ottawa will transfer more than $1.17 billion to Alberta in 2026–27 to maintain affordability grants, support licensed operators and advance long-term development of the national child-care system.
The extension broadens two existing agreements — the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and the bilateral Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement — each now running to March 31, 2027.
Officials say the deal protects affordability for families while giving the two governments more time to negotiate a longer-ranging framework.
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Extension buys time, not stability: operators
Some Alberta child-care operators say the extension protects families in the short term but does little to resolve structural problems that surfaced earlier this year.
“The first reaction I have is one of relief for parents,” said Calgary Downtown Daycare operator, Vidya Venkatraman.
“But it does just feel like a Band-Aid. Parents and operators would like something more long term. Five years was what we were hoping for.”
On May 15, the province announced it had reached its federally-funded cap for new for-profit child-care spaces, which left dozens of operators who were already building or preparing to open new centres suddenly ineligible for Canada-wide fee reductions.
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