The national childcare proposal in the latest federal budget underestimates the actual costs of implementing the program, Cardus finds. Taking into account assumptions primarily relating to staff-to-child ratios, per-space payments for home daycares, square footage per child, and Early Childhood Educator (ECE) salary growth, their latest report provides both a low-cost estimate and a high-cost estimate.
On the low end, they calculate that the program costs will exceed the federal budget, coming in at $17 billion total in year five, with the federal contribution being $9.2 billion and parents covering $3.6 billion through user fees. This leaves a remaining $4.2 billion that will most likely be left to the provincial governments to fund.
On the high end estimates come in at $36.3 billion total in year five, with the federal government again covering $9.2 billion and parents covering $3.8 billion through user fees. The provinces must then cover the remaining $23.3 billion in this scenario.
It is imperative to consider the unintended fiscal consequences and opportunity costs of this plan, the authors argue. Especially when there is a better way to address these needs:
“The billions of dollars spent to create this system of care would be better placed in the pockets of Canadian families, to meet their child-care needs in whatever ways are optimal for their child and their family situation, not only for their labour-force participation but also for the myriad of other reasons that make our lives meaningful,” reports Cardus.
Check out the details and full study here: https://www.cardus.ca/research/family/reports/look-before-you-leap/