ST. JOHN’S – A new study released this week shows the City of St. John’s is the second-most expensive place to get child care in Canada. The study was conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and reveals the most and least affordable cities for child care.
CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says, “To think that working families in St. John’s are now forking out almost $1,400 a month for child care is unbelievable. And we’re not that far behind Toronto, with its monthly cost of almost $1,700.”
Torontonians pay the most for infant child care at $1,676 a month. Parents in St. John’s pay the second most at $1,394 a month. The lowest fees are found in several Quebec cities, where infant care costs $152 a month thanks to Quebec’s universal system and $7.30-a-day fee.
Says Lucas, “Meanwhile we have the federal government recently announcing an increase to their so-called child care benefit from $100 a month to $160 a month per child up to age six.
“That’s little more than one month of child care costs for a family in St. John’s. If we had an affordable child care system in this province, more parents would choose to work, pay taxes and contribute to the economy,” says Lucas.
Today marks the start of the Childcare 2020 National Conference taking place in Winnipeg, where over 500 childcare activists are gathering for the next three days.