Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan announced today that BC Greens will lift David Eby’s freeze on new $10-a-day childcare spaces and a plan to achieve universal free childcare coverage by 2031 for every family in this province. “Lack of access, lack of qualified educators, and unaffordable fees send a clear message to young people and families: the government is not investing in you,” said Lowan. “British Columbia has the most expensive and complicated child care in Canada, exacerbated by David Eby’s freezing of the $10-a-day childcare program. BC Greens will lift the freeze immediately, and make it free by 2031. The NDP government paused — the BC Greens will build.”The BC NDP committed to a wage grid in its 2021 Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement — yet it hasn’t been delivered for childcare workers. That’s why the BC Greens will implement an early childhood educator wage grid, reaching $35 to $45 an hour by 2028, to ensure the people who look after your kids get fair compensation.”
“BC is one of only two jurisdictions in Canada — alongside the Yukon — with neither a capped childcare fee nor a wage grid for the people who care for our kids. BC Greens will fix both, and use that foundation to get every family in this province to universal childcare coverage.
At the same press conference, BC Greens candidate for Victoria-Swan Lake, Carolyn Howe.
Carolyn Howe is a longtime elementary music teacher, public education advocate, and labour activist. Currently president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, her career in education has given her decades of experience working with students, families, educators and communities across Greater Victoria. “I have seen first-hand the realities that ordinary people are facing. Economic inequality is at crisis levels. People are struggling and stressed about paying their bills” said Howe. “Teachers believe in the potential of every child to succeed. But I know it takes more than just a dedicated teacher. I want to be part of a government ready to fight for our communities, where people feel connected and hopeful for the future. From affordable housing, to strong healthcare, thriving public schools, and universal childcare—it’s time to raise our expectations for what is possible, and create the province we want to live in.”
“Having a labour leader, a caring educator, and a fierce advocate for families like Carolyn join the team is an honour,” said Lowan.
Please find out childcare policy brief below.
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Media contact
Prym Goodacre, Media & Campaigns Officer
+778 650 0597
newsroom@bcgreens.ca
The BG Greens believe that all children deserve the best start in life, that all families deserve excellent care, and that early childhood staff deserve fair compensation.
Early childhood education is the foundation of a healthy society, yet it has been consistently deprioritised by successive governments in British Columbia. Lack of access, lack of qualified educators, and unaffordable fees send a clear message to young people and families; we are not investing in you. Despite persistent and visible inequities, no BC government has adequately addressed these issues.
British Columbia has the most expensive and complicated child care in Canada.
This is an economic issue, a gender equality issue, and a government accountability issue. Increasing access to early care and learning supports increased labour force participation, particularly for women, who still undertake the majority of childcare. Child care and early learning is an investment in our future – one with a return that is both immediate and long-term, for parents and the children who are able to access high-quality education.
Between 2019 and 2024, child care expansion created more than 8,000 jobs and added an estimated 33,000 full-time-equivalent workers to BC’s economy — generating an additional $1 billion in provincial revenue in 2024 alone, more than the government spent on child care that year.
Currently, British Columbia has the highest child care fees in Canada, and 75% of children have no access to licensed care. At the same time, educators are without the wage grid BC committed to in its 2021 Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. Currently, only 10%, or roughly 16,000 out of the 159,000 early childhood education spots in BC are currently available at $10-a-day.
The BC NDP Government has failed to fully implement $10/day childcare, failed to create a flexible system that meets the needs of working families, and failed to attract and adequately pay the skilled workforce needed. This is a challenge for family budgets, for our economic productivity, and for growing the next generation of British Columbians.
BC and the Yukon are now the only jurisdictions in Canada with neither a capped child care fee nor a wage grid for early childhood educators. The BC Greens will address both.
The BC Greens will:
- Commit to making quality $10-a-day childcare available to families all across British Columbia by lifting the freeze on new $10-a-day enrolments introduced in Budget 2026, and use it as the foundation to later implement universal childcare coverage by 2031.
- Make registering for care simple: create one point of registration for $10/day spaces across B.C., replacing today’s centre-by-centre waitlists so families no longer have to win a lottery to access affordable care.
- Make it easier for early childhood centres to become, and remain, part of the $10/day spaces by reducing burdensome compliance paperwork. New spaces and priority registration going to public, non-profit and Indigenous-led centres, building a system rooted in community care, not private profit.
- Create a universal early childhood education funding model to reduce administrative burdens for childcare operators, allowing them to focus on quality care for children. This model will address wage grids, space creation, licensing, and staffing.
- Provide paid practicums for early childhood educators, offering financial support during their essential training periods.
- Implement an early childhood educator wage grid, and reach $35-45 per hour by 2028 based on qualifications and years of experience.
- Ensure early childhood educators have access to pension plans and extended health benefits to improve job security and retention.
- Work with child care operators to support ongoing growth in capacity, through capital upgrades to schools and existing facilities, a workforce development plan, and sufficient operational flexibility to meet the needs of families now and in the future.