Federal cuts mean higher day-care fees
Victoria Times Colonist/ Canadian Press
Jan 9, 2007

VICTORIA - B.C. parents can expect to pay up to $75 a month more in child care fees due to federal funding cuts.

Day care operators have started sending notices to parents advising them they can expect the monthly increases as of July 1. Child Care Minister Linda Reid sent a letter to child care operators last week saying federal government funding cuts are forcing the province to make cuts.

The federal government dropped its child care agreement with the provinces last year and replaced it with $100 a month benefit to parents.

Day care operators say the cuts mean parents with children between the ages of three and five will pay up to $50 more a month. Parents with infants up to three years old will pay up to $75 more each month.

A Victoria day care advocate says the cuts will affect up to 80,500 children in British Columbia.

Reid says B.C. is putting more money toward child care, aiming it at families most in need.