Minister explains child care funding
Vancouver Island News Group -- Campbell River Mirror
13 Jun 2007
Letters -- Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care

... During the Estimates debate, questions arose about $40 million in federal child care funding and how that funding is being distributed to eligible child care providers....

With the dissolution of the Federal Early Learning and Child Care Agreement (ELCC), and with the province being unable to defer that funding to future fiscal years, the province committed $40 million to improve B.C.'s child care system.

The first $20 million was issued in March to eligible child care providers funded through the province's Child Care Operating Funding Program, to be directed toward quality improvement. These payments, already in the hands of providers, were based on the number of funded licensed spaces per provider and type of care provided.

The remaining $20 million was allocated to a trust administered through the BC Council for Families.... The council has been tasked with administering this fund in a way which is open, transparent and accountable to child care providers, governments and all British Columbians. Details of criteria and the distribution process are currently being finalized and will be communicated directly to the child care community in the coming weeks....