Alberta to create more than 20,000 affordable private child care spaces

Alberta families will have more child care options as the province aims to create more than 20,000 private spaces. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton)

The provincial government is creating more affordable child care spaces for Alberta families.

The addition of private child care to Alberta's Space Creation Grant could create up to 22,500 spaces, the government said on Tuesday.

"High-quality, affordable child care should be accessible and work for all Alberta families," Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton said in a statement. "Expanding the Space Creation Grant will help our child care system grow and thrive, creating thousands of much-needed new spaces for children, as well as opportunities for operators and entrepreneurs."

The affordable private child care spaces would also bring the province closer to $10/day child care by 2026, the government added.

Applications are open to new and existing licenced non-profit and private operators who want new spaces.

Operators can apply here.

The Alberta and Canadian governments are allocating $28 million to the expansion of the program.

The NDP Opposition criticized UCP MLAs for making a "cynical re-announcement" of spaces announced months earlier, stating they should be focused on another issue.

"Children are still recovering from a critical public health failure that contributed to one of Canada’s largest E. coli outbreaks that impacted several daycares right here in Calgary," said Diana Batten, critic for childcare and children and family services.

“We are continuing our call for an independent public inquiry that is fully transparent to the public, that the public can engage in and that will produce all records of what was investigated and what recommendations were made."