British Columbia continues to invest in affordable kindergartens
The most important period for training is up to five years, according to the provincial government.
Before the agreement with the federal government, BC had its own preschool program, ChildCareBC. It has been in place for five years. Since 2018, the province has spent $2.7 billion CAD on the program, including funding more than 26,000 new spaces in licensed daycare and nursery schools.
This week, British Columbia announced an investment in 10 daycare centres in coastal Vancouver that will open 317 new places. And at the end of March, the province announced it would reduce the price for a child to stay in daycare to $10 CAD a day and no more than $200 CAD a month, as promised in a federal agreement.
But the places parents pay so little for are limited. In 2018, there were 2,500 inexpensive kindergarten spots; as of early April 2022, with the new openings, there were about 6,500. By December 2022, that number promises to increase to 12,500.
Pay for child care workers and other licensed child care workers is going up, with many preschools getting a $4 CAD increase in their hourly pay through the budget. Over the next three years, B.C. plans to raise all preschool salaries and open 390 spots for higher education teacher training. But for now, early childhood educators are a sought-after profession, and candidates with such experience regularly receive invitations through the provincial immigration program.
