Federal-provincial child care agreement

Alberta has developed a 3-year action plan for early learning and child care, outlining how Alberta will achieve its renewed vision for child care in Alberta. Through the Canada-Wide agreement, approximately $3.8 billion will be invested in child care for children from birth to kindergarten age (in kindergarten and also attending child care during regular school hours). Key features of this investment are:

• $3.16 billion to reduce out-of-pocket parent fees
• $185 million to support the creation of up to 68,700 licensed child care spaces by 2026
• $152 million to increase access to equitable and inclusive child care spaces
• $506 million to support certified educators in licensed child care programs offering high-quality support for families in their communities

Sustained affordable child care supports families and ultimately Alberta’s economic prosperity. Alberta is working to reduce out-of-pocket parent fees for full-time licensed early learning and child care spaces for children from birth to kindergarten age. Over the course of the 5-year agreement, for families with children up to kindergarten age, we will:

• reduce licensed child care parent fees by an average of 50% (completed 2022)
• lower average licensed child care parent fees to $15 per day (completed early 2024)
• lower average licensed child care parent fees to $10 per day (by end of March 2026)

Families have options for quality early learning and child care where and when they need it. Alberta will support the creation of up to 68,700 licensed child care spaces by March 2027 in facility-based programs, as well as family day homes approved by a family day home agency.

In April 2024, Alberta and Canada agreed to extend the timeline to open child care spaces by one year from March 2026 to March 2027.

To ensure families with children up to kindergarten age (needing care during school hours) can choose the child care that works best for them, we will:

• support licensed child care programs – preschools, daycares and family day homes under a licensed agency
• implement a variety of initiatives to increase the number of licensed child care spaces, creating up to 68,700 net new spaces for a total of 171,700 affordable child care spaces for Alberta families by March 2027 –
  • Total Net New Spaces opened as of December 2024: 35,100 or 51% of target
  • Progress: 34% increase in affordable spaces
  • November 2021 baseline: 103,000 spaces
  • December 2024: 138,100 spaces

Under this plan, Alberta families will have access to at least 42,500 more non-profit spaces. Of those, up to 14,500 will be in a family day home approved by a family day home agency. As of December 2024, Alberta has created:

• 11,650 (42%) of the facility-based non-profit spaces target (28,000)
  • the Space Creation Grant is now closed
  • the Building Blocks Capital Grant Program is available to support the creation of non-profit and public spaces
• 6,900 (48%) of the 14,500 family day home cap

Following the release of the Cost Control Framework and For-Profit Expansion Plan in January 2023, Alberta families will also have access to up to 26,200 more for-profit spaces.

• As of December 2024, 16,600 (63%) of the 26,200 for-profit spaces under the cap* have been created.
  • * Does not include for-profit spaces that have been previously approved for a Space Creation Grant but are not yet open. This is approximately an additional 3,000 allocated spaces.

Alberta's government estimates the for-profit spaces cap may be reached by summer 2025, but the target could be reached earlier depending on the readiness of licensing applications.

Under the Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, there is a maximum number of for-profit child care spaces eligible for Affordability Grant funding. 

Note: When the for-profit space cap is met, new for-profit programs licensed in 2025–26 or later may not be eligible to opt into the Affordability Grant. Similarly, existing for-profit programs that receive a variance to increase their licensed capacity may not be eligible for Affordability Grant funding on additional licensed spaces.

Early childhood educators deliver high-quality early learning and child care programs that support children’s well-being and developmental needs.

Quality care starts with well-trained, dedicated educators. Alberta values the early childhood education profession and we will:

• increase access to the profession by increasing enrolment capacity for the free level 1 child-care orientation from 4,000 to 10,000 spaces (completed)
• support professional development, training and improved certification levels for our early childhood educator workforce
• continue wage top-ups for early childhood educators – among the highest in Canada
• continue to support the development and delivery of Flight curriculum framework
• continue to build accessibility for children of all abilities and backgrounds
• increase the number of qualified early childhood educators employed in licensed child care programs:
  • November 2021: 18,100 ECEs
  • December 2024: 29,700 ECEs
  • Progress: 64% increase

Read more on child care supports for inclusion