N.B. announces funding to help reduce child-care waitlists, fees

The New Brunswick government has announced it will spend $200 million on the child-care sector.

New Brunswick is spending $200 million over five years to extend three child-care agreements with the federal government.

One of them – the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement – has been extended to March 31, 2031. Ottawa is contributing $876.3 million over five years starting in 2026-2027 to help extend the agreement, as well as the Canada New Brunswick Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

The province says the money will be used to subsidize more than 17,000 child-care spaces in the New Brunswick Early Learning Centre and New Brunswick Early Learning Home Designation program, as well as spaces that have been allocated but are not yet open.

“Extending this agreement with our partners in the federal government will allow us to continue providing access to the high-quality and affordable early learning and child-care system that New Brunswickers deserve,” said Claire Johnson, minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, in a news release Tuesday.

“This investment represents our continued commitment to support parents’ workforce participation while ensuring their children are in nurturing, responsive, high-quality learning environments.”

The provincial government says the funding will also allow the Canada-New Brunswick Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Funding Agreement to be extended for one year.

Jenna Sudds, federal minister of Families, Children and Social Development, says the funding is another step forward in making $10-a-day child care a reality for families across New Brunswick.

“That’s what these extension agreements are all about. Affordable child care gives parents, especially moms, options: options to go back to work, build their careers and save money, while ensuring their kids get the best possible start in life,” said Sudds.

The New Brunswick government says since the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement was signed in December 2021, the provincial government has:

• reduced daily out-of-pocket fees paid by families by 50 per cent, to an average of $12.82, and committed to lowering that to an average of $10 per day by March 2026
• updated the early childhood educator wage grid and increased wages to be more competitive
• reduced the turnover rate of early childhood educators to 26 per cent from 50 per cent

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.