New Democrat MLAs Lisa Beare and Bob D’Eith say families in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will save money on child care as local child care sites become $10 a Day ChildCareBC sites where fees are capped at a maximum of $200 a month per child.

“Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are great places to raise a family, and starting today they’re even more accessible. We’re converting spaces at Discovery Playhouse Children’s Centre in Pitt Meadows and at Under The Tree Childcare Centre in Maple Ridge into $10 a Day spaces. This is just the news that families need to hear right now and is part of our government’s historic childcare commitment,” said Lisa Beare, MLA for Maple Ridge- Pitt Meadows.

Discovery Playhouse Children’s Centre in Pitt Meadows is becoming a $10 a Day ChildCareBC site,  which means 99 child care spaces will have fees dramatically reduced for parents. Additionally, Under the Tree Children’s Centre in Maple Ridge will have 39 spaces available to parents at $10 a day.

“Families shouldn’t have to choose between going to work or school and affording childcare. Our government has said from the very beginning that affordable childcare is a key priority. This week we are converting thousands more childcare spaces into $10 a day spaces across British Columbia, including right here in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows,” said Bob D’Eith, MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission.

Spaces in the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program reduce the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month at participating facilities (for full-time, centre-based infant care) to $200 a month, saving families approximately $800 a month per child on average. The newly approved $10 a day spaces are being offered at 61 child care centres throughout B.C., bringing the total number of $10 a Day spaces in B.C. to nearly 11,000.

In addition to these spaces, the Province, with federal funding support, is helping approximately 69,000 families with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10-a-day program through child care fee reductions of up to $550 more per month per child. These savings, which kicked in on Dec. 1, 2022, are in addition to the $350 per month per child that families have been saving through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative since 2018.

For more information on the $10 a Day ChildCareBC sites and spaces: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare10aDaysites