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Fee reductions for Childcare in Northern BC

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Three Bulkley Valley and Lakes District communities have committed to the BC government’s fee reduction program for childcare.

Burns Lake, Houston, and Smithers all have locations who are participating in the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative. Those establishments can be found here.

Child Care Month in BC is an opportunity to stress the importance of improving access to affordable, quality child care throughout the province. The new Childcare BC plan aims to create more licensed spaces while improving quality and affordability for families. The first step has now been taken to lower childcare costs to provide some relief to families.

So far, child care providers have applied to lower fees for 39,384 of 49,136 eligible establishments. Already, 25,309 of those spaces have been approved. This means parents have already begun benefiting from lower childcare fees, with even more families expected to benefit as April applications continue to be processed and approved. Some BC residents have reported saving nearly $150 a month due to the lower fees.

In addition, the Province of BC is addressing the shortage in child care, so parents can find licensed spots for their children. BC plans to invest $237 million to fund more than 22,000 new, licensed child care spaces over the next three years.

Child Care Month will lay a strong foundation leading up to September when parents will be able to save even more money through the new Affordable Child Care Benefit, which will be available to BC families with incomes up to $111,000 a year.

More on the Childcare BC Plan can be found here.

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