BC Premier John Horgan, alongside Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy, and Minister of State of Child Care, Katrina Chen, visited the BCITSA Childcare Centre (SE41) to reveal part of a three-year $1 billion investment into ChildCare BC.
The Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB) is replacing the current Child Care Subsidy, which qualifies families with a pre-tax income of up to $111,000 (up from $55,000). The benefit amount has also been increased from $750 / month per child up to $1,250. Over 80,000 families are now eligible for some level of support.
This measure follows the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, launched in April 2018, to help license child care providers reduce fees by up to $350 / month.
“Parents throughout this province have been struggling with rising child care costs, and it’s clear that we need to make child care more affordable for more middle-income families,” said Premier John Horgan. “Our hope is that this makes a big difference for families, and that they can get a little further ahead every month. When more parents can choose to re-join the workforce if they want to, that’s good for people and the economy.”
BCITSA President Timothy David shared a story of a BCIT student with four children that currently pays $3,400 a month in child care, and added that he is personally proud of this new initiative.
He also opined an earlier sentiment of the Premier campaigning for nap times for all students.
See the full video below.
Sean is in the BCIT Broadcast & Online Journalism program. He also works at the BCIT Student Associations as a Publication Intern for Link Magazine and volunteers at The Cinematheque. He enjoys local music, overly complicated board games and a good cup of black coffee.
