SURREY – Surrey New Democrat MLAs Rachna Singh, Jinny Sims, and Harry Bains are welcoming an exciting initiative that will see child care fees eliminated or capped at $200 per month for 209 child care spaces in Surrey.

“Families in Surrey struggled for years while the BC Liberals made bad choices that made life unaffordable for parents,” said Rachna Singh, MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers. “Our government’s new prototype project will make life easier for Surrey parents.”

“It is simply unacceptable how young families in Surrey struggled to find good-quality affordable child care while the BC Liberals were busy only working for their wealthy friends,” said Jinny Sims, MLA for Surrey Panorama. “We are putting children and families first.”

“Parents shouldn’t have to choose between going to work to provide for the family or staying at home to care for their children,” said Harry Bains, MLA for Surrey-Newton. “Unlike the BC Liberals, our government is working hard to make life easy for parents.”

The initiative is part of a B.C. government Child Care BC Prototype Site project that will deliver $10-a-day (or less) child care to parents at 53 locations around the province, and is the next step towards a universal, affordable child care system.

Child care providers participating in the project will receive government funding to cover costs, and in return, fees will be eliminated or capped at a maximum of $200 per month.

Alexandra Neighbourhood House Children’s Centres – Kensington Prairie, Maxxine Wright Early Care & Learning Centre (MWECLC), The Centre for Child Development Preschool and Child Care, First Step Daycare Centre, and Goldstone Learning Centres are among the 53 organizations across the province that will be participating in the Child Care BC Prototype Site project to deliver universal, affordable child care. This funding is a part of the B.C. government’s $60 million Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) agreement with the Government of Canada.

For more information: http://news.gov.bc.ca/18440