Alberta parents will keep paying $15 a day for child care after the province and Ottawa agreed to extend their joint funding deal for another year, a move the government says will spare families and operators from months of uncertainty.The child-care agreement, originally set to lapse on March 31, 2026, will now run an additional year as both sides work on a long-term arrangement. Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the extension gives Alberta families stability while negotiations continue.“This extension is great news for Alberta families,” Nicolaides said, arguing it means parents will keep saving thousands of dollars while more spaces open in communities that need them. He added the province will keep pressing Ottawa for a long-term deal that reflects Alberta’s needs..Federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu called affordable care an economic tool that keeps parents in the workforce. She said lower fees are helping families earn more while boosting the province’s competitiveness.The deal maintains the $15-a-day rate for children kindergarten age and younger in daycare and family day-home programs beyond March 31, 2026. Parents will continue saving up to $100 per child each month on preschool fees, while federal and provincial spending will continue covering about 80% of the overall cost. Government figures estimate families save roughly $11,000 per child each year.YMCA Calgary president and CEO Shannon Doram said the extension gives operators the stability they need to plan. She added that affordable, inclusive, high-quality child care is critical to Alberta’s economic success.As part of the extension, Alberta negotiated an additional 5,000 for-profit spaces eligible for federal funding, aimed at improving access in areas with limited options. .The overall cap of 68,700 funded spaces remains unchanged. The agreement also scrapped a previous limit that restricted federal support to 14,500 family day-home spaces, opening the door for more homes to qualify.Krystal Churcher of ACE, representing early learning programs, praised the province for pushing a system that supports both non-profit and for-profit operators, saying the added spaces help protect parental choice.Since signing onto the national plan, Alberta’s child-care enrolment has grown sharply, with more than 150,000 affordable spaces now available — one-third created since 2021. The number of certified early childhood educators has also risen more than 75%, with over 30,000 now working in the province.The extension includes $1.17 billion from Ottawa in 2026-27 under the Canada-Alberta ELCC agreements, covering affordability grants, wage top-ups for educators and continued support for licensed programs serving children kindergarten age and younger.
