Alberta extends $15-a-day child care deal one year
Alberta’s $15-a-day child care program has been temporarily rescued by a one-year funding extension from Ottawa, keeping the heavily subsidized program running until March 31, 2027.
Alberta’s $15-a-day child care program has been temporarily rescued by a one-year funding extension from Ottawa, keeping the heavily subsidized program running until March 31, 2027, as governments struggle to finalize a long-term agreement.
The extension, announced last Friday, prevents uncertainty for families and operators. The existing agreement was set to expire at the end of March 2026.
Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the extension gives Alberta time to seek a deal better suited to the province’s mixed child care model, which includes non-profit centres, for-profit operators and family day homes.
“This extension is great news for Alberta families. It means parents will keep saving thousands of dollars, and more child-care spaces will be available in communities that need them most. Alberta’s government remains committed to working with our federal partners to secure a long-term deal that reflects Alberta’s needs and priorities,” he said.
The one-year extension covers both the Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and the Canada-wide Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including the final year of the infrastructure funding stream. The extension delivers a combined $1.17 billion from Ottawa in the 2026–27 fiscal year to support affordability measures and workforce compensation.
The agreement maintains the $15-a-day fee for children kindergarten age and younger in licensed daycare and family day-home programs beyond March 31, 2026. Parents will also continue saving up to $100 per child per month on preschool fees, with combined provincial and federal government funding covering about 80 per cent of total costs. The provincial government estimates this saves families $11,000 per child each year.
The provincial and federal governments consulted child-care operators during negotiations.
“The cost of delivering high quality child care, like everything else, continues to grow, and the affordability grant provided under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement is critical to ensuring costs are not pushed onto families,” said President and CEO of YMCA Calgary, Shannon Doram.
Federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Patty Hajdu framed the extension as both a family support and an economic policy when speaking at Friday’s news conference.
She said around 900,000 children are benefiting from affordable child care nationwide. Since November 2021, Alberta has introduced 51,000 new child care spaces toward its goal of 68,700. She explained that the average savings per year per child would work out to $7,600.
Hajdu said that more working-age mothers were participating in the labour force than ever before, at nearly 80 per cent.
A key change in the one-year extension is Alberta securing federal funding eligibility for an additional 5,000 for-profit child care spaces. This aims to address access gaps in communities with limited options.
“Affordable fees also mean nothing if you cannot find a door to walk through,” said Nicolaides.
The extension also removes a previous restriction that capped federally supported family day home spaces at 14,500, allowing more home-based providers to qualify for funding and expand capacity.
Nicolaides said those changes directly respond to complaints from operators earlier this year after Alberta hit its federal funding cap for for-profit spaces, leaving some new centres unable to offer the $15-a-day rate.
He added the bridge agreement was important as negotiations with the federal government remain ongoing.
“We could have rushed into a long-term deal that maybe was not the best fit for Alberta. Or we could try to find a temporary measure to continue our work, to find a system that actually meets the needs of all Alberta families,” said Nicolaides. “It’s an important bridge and a critical step to help ensure that we continue to advocate for Alberta families.”
Since joining the federal program, Alberta reports more than 150,000 affordable child care spaces provincewide, with about a third created since 2021. The number of certified early childhood educators has increased by more than 75 per cent to over 30,000, according to government figures.