Forward. For everyone.

Excerpted from platform

Supporting Families

We know that raising a family can be expensive. Everything from housing, to food, to clothes, to child care, to new computers for online learning, making ends meet can be stressful. We believe that mothers and fathers should spend more time raising their kids, and less time worrying about how to afford to.

That’s why we introduced a transformational plan to bring $10 a day child care to families across the country. It’s why we ended the Conservatives practice of giving child benefit cheques to millionaires, and, instead, introduced the Canada Child Benefit.

Key Actions to Support Families, Since 2015

Started building a $10 a day Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care System, reaching agreements with seven provinces and one territory, covering almost half of all children in Canada.

Created the Canada Child Benefit, which gives more money, tax-free, to 9 out of 10 families than under the last Conservative government and has helped lift 435,000 children out of poverty.

Provided a CCB top-up of up to $1,200 to help parents of children under 6 cope with extra costs during COVID-19.

Introduced the Parental Sharing Benefit which gives an extra five weeks of EI benefits to families when both parents, in a two-parent family, agree to take time off with their new child. This promotes equality at home and in the workplace—and makes families stronger.

$10 a Day Child Care for Families

Since we introduced our plan for early learning and child care in April, we have worked tirelessly to make agreements with 8 provinces and territories, covering nearly half of children in Canada, to deliver a 50% cut in child care fees next year, and deliver $10 a day care in five years or less.

But Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives want to rip up these agreements. They don’t believe that supporting publicly accessible, affordable, and high-quality child care is important for Canada’s future. Erin O’Toole has refused to commit to a reduction in child care fees, refused to commit to new child care spaces, and refused to commit to hiring new early childhood educators. And the amount of money that the average family will receive through the Conservative’s modest tax credit is smaller, by several magnitudes, than the savings families will see from our plan for $10 a day child care.

The fact is, ensuring families have access to early learning and child care is not just a social issue—it is an urgent economic issue. The pandemic has exposed what parents have long known. Without access to affordable child care, parents, mostly mothers, can’t work. This is a universal issue that is resonating across sectors, regions, and income brackets.

Building a publicly funded Canada-wide system of accessible, high-quality early learning and child care will not only support working parents and make life more affordable for families, but it will also create jobs, strengthen our economy, grow the middle class, and give every child in Canada the best possible start in life. Affordable, high-quality child care has the potential to add 240,000 workers to the Canadian workforce. Every dollar invested in early childhood education can generate up to $3 in economic return.

Conservatives want to roll back progress for families. We cannot let Canadian women and children get left behind.

A re-elected Liberal government will:

• Reduce fees for child care by 50% in the next year.
• Deliver $10 a day child care within five years or less.
• Build 250,000 new high-quality child care spaces.
• Hire 40,000 more early childhood educators.
• Finalize agreements with all remaining provinces and territories.
• Work with the province of Quebec to build on its world-class, affordable child care system, improve working conditions for educators, and create more spaces for families.
• Work with Indigenous partners to ensure Indigenous children have access to culturally appropriate, affordable, high-quality early learning and child care.
• Enact federal child care legislation to strengthen and protect a Canada-wide child care system.

More Support for Caregivers

Canadians place a high premium on taking care of one another. Over the last year, the demands on Canadians, particularly women, who care for family members, be they adult children, aging parents, or a sick relative, have been incredibly high. We believe a government should support the Canadians who take care of our families and communities.

A re-elected Liberal government will:

Expand the Canada Caregiver Credit into a refundable, tax-free benefit. This will help 200,000 more Canadians qualify, and increase support for 448,000 people.

Make the Canada Caregiver Credit refundable, allowing caregivers to receive up to $1,250 per year.

Giving New Parents a Break on Student Loans

Being a new parent is expensive. There’s a new mouth to feed, new clothes to buy, and new child care costs. Paying back federal student loans at the same time, is an extra stress that we don’t think new parents should have to manage.

A re-elected Liberal government will:

• Let new parents pause repayment of their federal student loans until their youngest child reaches the age of five. This would also include new parents who have graduated but still haven’t finished paying off their loans.

Protecting the Wellbeing of Indigenous Children

Protecting the well-being of Indigenous children has always been a top priority for us. For far too long, Indigenous children have been overrepresented in the child welfare system—part of the troubling legacy of colonialism. All children in Canada deserve to grow up in their communities, immersed in their cultures, and surrounded by loved ones

Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care

In 2018, we co-developed Canada’s Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework because we believe that programs for Indigenous communities are developed by Indigenous communities, especially when it comes to children. Every child in Canada should have the best possible start in life. But there is still progress to be made.

A re-elected Liberal government will:

• Move forward on building an Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care system that meets the needs of Indigenous families, wherever they live.
• Ensure more Indigenous families have access to high-quality programming.
• Create 3,300 new spaces.
• Invest in Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern communities.
• Continue to support before and after school care for First Nations children on reserve.