Child-care funding 'music to our ears,' advocates, parents say - Action News
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OttawaBUDGET REACTION

Child-care funding 'music to our ears,' advocates, parents say

Parents and advocates for affordable child care in Ottawasay the promises made in Monday'sfederal budget werea long time coming, but certainly welcome.

Government investing $30B over 5 years to offset cost of early learning and child care

Becca and Philip Carroll are planning to send their daughter Delilah to daycare in the fall. (Sarah Rowland)

Parents and advocates for affordable child care in Ottawasay the promises made in Monday'sfederal budget werea long time coming, but certainly welcome.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the federal government will invest roughly $30 billion over five years to help offset the cost of early learning and child-care services.

The investment follows decades of broken promises and half measures on child care, andis designed to reduce what parents pay for care in the coming years. Thegoal isto drive down child-care costs withinfive years to just $10 a day per child, nationwide.

That's a huge drop compared to what families in Ottawa are paying now. The median cost of daycarein Ottawa last year was$1,140 per month, according to budget documents.

Becca Carroll, 28, saidmost parents in Ottawa are currently paying between $50 and $100 a day, so the relief will be welcome.

"It would be really great. Quebec already does this. They have a set amount per day that's subsidized for children, and I think that really helps," said Carroll, whose two-year-old daughter will likely start daycare in the fall.

'It's like they've been listening'

Child-care advocates are thrilled by the announcement, according to Kim Hiscott, executive director of Andrew Fleck Children's Services, a local child-care provider.

"It's like they've been listening. All the details that are included in the budget are just music to our ears," Hiscott said. "It feels now like early learning and child care is at the same level, is at the same value as education and health care."

Samantha Bush, pictured with her husband Alex Bush and their son William, says she hopes the funding announced in Monday's budget will make it more affordable for parents, especially mothers on maternity leave, return to work. (Ottawa Birth Stories)

Samantha Bush, 24, is hoping the funding will make it more affordable for parents, especially mothers, to return to work. Bush said since she first returned to work last April, about half of her income has been paying for herchild's daycare.

"I'm essentially making ... $8 an hour now. I'm making less than minimum wage for my time because I have to pay for somebody else to watch my child," she said.

With files from John Paul Tasker