New Brunswick partnering with federal government to provide affordable child care

New Brunswick is partnering with the federal government to bring affordable early learning and child care to the province. On Wednesday, New Brunswick announced a three-year plan to improve and expand early child care and education services.

New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Bill Hogan said the province is grateful for its partnership with the federal government.

“I am proud to witness the remarkable strides made over the past few years to improve New Brunswick's early learning and child-care system,” Hogan said. “We know there is still work to be done and we are committed to continuing to improve learning environments for all our youngest learners."

In a news release, the province said the action plan outlines more than $426 million in spending to improve five key areas.

• Affordability: more than $295 million towards average, regulated child-care fees of $10-a-day.
• Access: more than $20 million towards the creation of 3,400 new regulated child-care spots.
• Quality: More than $128.5 million towards ongoing support for early childhood educator (ECE) wages and training.
• Inclusion: More than $30 million to develop an inclusion framework for anglophone and francophone sectors and for diverse and vulnerable communities. $12.4 million to improve accessibility with more than $2.7 million allocated for Indigenous-led efforts to provide services to Indigenous children.
• Reporting and Administration: More than $16 million to build resources within the Government of New Brunswick to support data collection and reporting.

The release said New Brunswick’s action plan intends to meet commitments made under the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-wide Early Learning and Childcare Agreement, the Canada-New Brunswick ELCC Agreement and the Canada-New Brunswick ELCC Infrastructure Fund Amendment.

Minister for Families and Social Development, Jenna Sudds, said the plan provides direction for the province’s funding.

“We’ve invested $492,000 with the province to create the system, but today’s announcement lays out the plan of how, over the next three years, under Mr. Hogan’s leadership here in the province, that they will achieve those objectives.”

Sudds said the system is focused on not-for-profit, public spaces because the research shows non-profits put more money back into the children. However, Hogan said the province is opening spaces in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

“We’re pleased with that because that provides more children to have a space that’s designated and for more parents to return to the workforce, which is what we want,” Hogan said.

Conrad Melanson is the founding president of the Garderie McLaughlin Board of Directors. He said the waitlist for parents seeking child care in the region is full.

“It’s past capacity, so of course, with a waitlist being that long, we certainly know in this region there’s a need,” Melanson said.

The partnership between New Brunswick and the federal government is part of a plan to provide regulated early learning and child care across the country at an average cost of $10-a-day by March 2026.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.