Manitoba turns a Gen Squeeze recommendation into reality by capping child care fees

Manitoba families have something big to look forward to this spring.  By April 2, $10 will be the MAXIMUM daily fee that families pay for child care. That’s a huge step forward at a time when rising costs and affordability are top of mind for so many.  Parents in Manitoba will no longer have to worry about child care costing another rent or mortgage sized payment, or more than university tuition. 

Kudos to the Government of Manitoba for bravely leading the way on capping fees at $10 a day. Setting $10 as the max daily cost to families is something Gen Squeeze has recommended for over a decade, since we began our pioneering work designing the $10 a day child care approach (check out this podcast for more).  Now, this policy prescription has moved from recommendation to reality – a milestone worthy of celebration!  We want to make sure that the Manitoba government gets all the credit it deserves for taking this bold step to support the wellbeing of young families.

Of course, the key question now is: when will other provinces catch up to their Prairie cousins?  All have signed historic federal-provincial agreements that commit to making $10 a day the average child care fee.  But the reality of a $10 average is that some families will pay far more, as Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw discusses in this recent Globe and Mail column. 

Manitoba has shown that it’s possible to double down on Canada’s historic child care achievement with a $10 maxfee.  Let’s hope others soon embrace this example.  There’s already some good momentum, with Saskatchewanpoised to complete the implementation of $10 a day average fees in April, and British Columbia recently implementing another round of fee reductions.   

Join us to keep the pressure on to make $10 a day the max child care fee for all families across Canada.

For more information on Gen Squeeze family policy recommendations, check out our family solutions framework.