It’s official, Ontario has inked a deal with the feds for $10-a-day child care.
Parents with children under five will see a reduction in daycare costs of 50-percent by the end of this year until the $10-a-day in four years.
It includes before and after-school daycare for parents of four-and-five-year-olds.
A 25-percent savings will begin on April, 1st, representing an average savings immediately of $2,200 per child between April and September.
Rebates will be sent out in May and will be retroactive to April 1st.
Individual childcare operators will have to register with the province for the program and will then roll the rebate out to parents.
In December there will be a further 25-percent reduction which the federal government estimates will save families $6,000 this year per child.
The deal is worth $13.2 billion dollars over five years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement Monday alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Trudeau says “We know kids deserve the best start in life. Parents, especially moms, shouldn’t have to choose between family and a career.”
The agreement also includes a provision to create 86,000 more daycare spaces by the end of 2026, but that number includes more than 15,000 spaces created since 2019.
Ontario is the last province and territory to sign the childcare agreement with the federal government.
***With files from Wendy Gray