“Child care spaces are in high demand across the province. To meet those demands, we need to use innovative approaches to make child care more accessible,” says The Honourable Becky Druhan, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

“The major infrastructure program, the minor infrastructure program and the family home start-up program, all play important parts in the expansion and transformation of child care in Nova Scotia.”

The government is taking action to make life cost less for young families, enable parents to join the workforce and increase their family income, and build a Canada where every generation can get ahead. Already, the federal government’s affordable child care system has all provinces and territories offering, or on track to offer, $10-a-day child care.

This progress, made possible by nearly $40 billion in federal support, is making life more affordable for young families, “who don’t yet have access to affordable child care spaces are paying as much as a second rent or mortgage payment for unregulated child care. This is unfair to today’s generation of parents, especially Millennial and Gen Z parents, who need and deserve the relief of $10-a-day spaces,” says the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

“Today’s new agreement with Nova Scotia will build more affordable spaces, so that more families can access affordable child care and save thousands of dollars every year.”

Today’s investment to build more spaces in Nova Scotia through the new $625 million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund will help more families save up to $6,000 per year, per child.

This includes creating more spaces for underserved communities, including Indigenous, rural, and remote communities, as well as for children with disabilities and French language minority communities. To build more spaces, help more families save thousands of dollars on child care, and ensure the next generation of parents don’t have to choose between raising a family or having a career.

Budget 2024 also includes: Launching a $1 billion Child Care Expansion Loan Program to help public and not-for-profit child care providers to build more child care spaces and renovate their existing child care centres; Expanding the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program to early childhood educators who work in rural and remote communities.

$48 million investment over four years, student loan forgiveness.

This will increase the longer an educator works in a rural or remote area, attracting and retaining the talent, similar to the programs we’re offering rural doctors and nurses; Increasing training for early childhood educators by investing $10 million over two years for Canada’s Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program to build up the talent needed for the expansion of affordable, high-quality child care; and, improving child care access for military families by investing $100 million to provide Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families with better access to child care on bases across Canada. 

“Every family should have access to high-quality, inclusive child care. More child care spaces mean more high-quality spots for kids, and more relief for parents as they access affordable child care,” says The Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.

“The Government of Canada remains committed to working with Nova Scotia so children in Canada have the best possible start in life. The Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund will help child care providers across the province so they can continue to provide access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care to underserved communities.”

For more information on all Child Care programs and services offered by the YMCA of Southwest Nova Scotia, contact Kim Roy, Childcare Manager, or Bronté James, YMCA Director of Funds Development and Community Relations. You can also reach out by calling 902-543-6399.