In one of his last acts as prime minister, Justin Trudeau pledged an additional $6.8 billion in funding for the government’s subsidized child-care program.
With an election on the horizon, Trudeau appeared focused on cementing support for one of his government’s signature programs, which aims to reduce parents’ child-care fees to $10 a day.
“I think about [the] young families that I meet that are excited about starting a family, but worry that … a change in government could mean ‘Nope, $10-a-day child care was a blip that helped a few but won’t be there for them,” Trudeau said in a teary-eyed address on March 6.
The Conservatives’ voting record suggests a Tory government may not be prepared to scrap the subsidized program entirely. But in statements to Canadian Affairs, the party signalled an openness to reforming the program — a move many child-care operators say they favour.
“You would be hard pressed to find any cheerleaders for the [current] program among licensed child-care owner operators,” says Andrea Hannen, executive director of the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario.
‘Disastrous’
The Trudeau government launched the Canada-Wide Early Learning Child-Care program in 2021. The program is administered by the provinces and territories, which have each signed separate funding agreements with Ottawa. The program is projected to cost Ottawa $30 billion in its first five years.
As of March 6, Ottawa had renewed its agreements with eight provinces and three territories, promising to collectively send them $36.8 billion over the next five-year period.
Alberta and Saskatchewan have not yet renewed their agreements. In statements to Canadian Affairs, Alberta cited inadequate funding and Saskatchewan said it needed more time to consult with child-care operators.
The government said the extra $6.8 billion will be used to create more subsidized spaces, reduce waitlists and hire more early childhood educators.
However, it is not certain this pledged funding will materialize.
“Any new funding will require an eventual allocation from Parliament,” Philippe Lagassé, associate professor at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, said in an emailed statement.
The Liberals — who are in a dead heat with the Conservatives in most polls — have framed the Conservatives as being unsupportive of subsidized child care.
“Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada never believed in child care, they always voted and campaigned against it at every opportunity,” Trudeau said at the March 6 press conference.
In fact, in February 2023, the Conservatives and all parties voted to pass legislation implementing subsidized child care. That legislation commits Ottawa to maintaining “sustained, long-term federal funding for early learning and child care in law.”
But despite their previous vote of support, Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri called the subsidized program “disastrous” in a March 18, 2025 emailed statement to Canadian Affairs. Ferreri is the shadow minister of families, children and social development.
“Across Canada we have seen daycare providers pull out of the program, more families are struggling to find spaces, and childcare workers and Early Childhood Educators are walking out in protest of the Carney-Trudeau Liberals’ failures,” Ferreri said.
“Their last minute photo-op theatrics are a slap in the face to the two out of three families who cannot access childcare and to the hard working women entrepreneurs who have been forced to shut down.”
“A Common Sense Conservative government will bring flexibility and choice for Canadians to find childcare that works for them,” her statement said.
In October 2024, Ferreri attended a protest in Ottawa organized by the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs, which has criticized the subsidized child-care program. Ferreri told Canadian Affairs at the time that the government needs to do a better job of listening to child-care operators.
“You don’t see the minister out here right now,” Ferreri said, referring to then Liberal minister of families, children and social development Jenna Sudds.
“If you don’t listen to the people who are on the front line, how do you fix a problem?”
‘Squeezing operators’
Many child-care operators say they have struggled to provide high-quality care under the subsidized program and have seen their wait lists explode.
“We’re being forced to cut our support staff. We cannot bring in the resources to support the children that are the high-need children. … This program is squeezing operators to the point that they don’t have anything to put back into their centres to support the children,” said Krystal Churcher, chair of the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs.
As Canadian Affairs previously reported, government funding would need to drastically rise to ensure child care that is high quality, accessible and affordable for parents.
“I can say with 100 per cent confidence [that with the] system designed the way it is, it just cannot achieve all the factors that [the] government says it will,” Andrea Mrozek, a senior fellow at the think tank Cardus told Canadian Affairs in September 2024.
Hannen, of the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario, says the additional $6.8 billion in funds pledged by Trudeau will not address the chronic funding shortages operators face. The increase amounts to an additional three per cent of funding a year starting in 2027.
“What it is is a commitment to try and keep pace with inflation, provided inflation doesn’t exceed that amount,” said Hannen.
Many child-care operators want to see reform. They would like the program to prioritize the accessibility of low-income families and better account for child-care operators’ expenses.
But issues early on in the program are to be expected, says Martha Friendly, executive director at Childcare Resource and Research Unit, a research institute.
“Putting in place … an ambitious child-care system … it seems like maybe [it would take] a decade long process to really get this in hand,” said Friendly. “We’re only halfway through that.”
Morna Ballantyne, executive director of the advocacy organization Child Care Now, agrees.
Many problems with the subsidized child-care system “can be solved as long as governments continue to support the program,” she said.
