EXCERPTS
VANCOUVER – There’s some good news for parents who rely on daycare services while they’re at work.
It appears the B.C. government is quietly testing out $10 a day daycare at some facilities around the province.
“This has made a couple of thousand parents across the province happy, to be paying only $200 a month at the most, so $10 a day for their childcare,” explains Sharon Gregson, who’s the provincial spokesperson for the $10aDay childcare plan.
“It’s a huge victory for parents.”
Gregson, who also works with the Coalition of Childcare Advocates of B.C., believes this goes to show that politicians listened to people’s concerns over the last election.
The 18-month pilot project involves a number of organizations across the province, she explains, that will offer childcare for just $10 a day.
“We know that this is an opportunity for the provincial government to track the cost of this model and to get feedback from parents on the outcomes and how important it is for them.”
Affordable childcare was one of the many promises made by the B.C. NDP in during the 2017 campaign. Gregson says it was one of the top election issues because “the childcare chaos in British Columbia was so extreme.”
Initially, the province said there would be 1,800 spots available during this pilot project, but they admit that number could change.