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B.C.'s premier says the average cost of child care has plummeted from what it was when his party took power in 2017 — but it's still not the $10 a day his party promised over two elections.
The average cost of child care has dropped from around $50 per day to an average of $18 per day, according to David Eby.
"Our goal around child care is very straightforward," he said Monday in Victoria from a roundtable with community members over his government's latest budget.
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Eby was pressed over whether the driving down of those costs would get to a promise his government said was in reach in 2017 — not an average cost for child care, but a universal one at $10 per day.
"We said over a 10-year period we are going to build out an accessible affordable child care program and our target and goal is $10 per day for British Columbians," he said.
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Currently there are 140,000 licensed child-care spots in B.C., according to Gregson, with 14,000 of them, or 10 per cent, operating at $10 per day.
"This isn't going to happen overnight," Eby said about adding spots.
"This is building the first new major social program in a generation in British Columbia … we've got more to do."
He also called on Ottawa this week to continue being a "strong" partner to help continue to build B.C.'s affordable child-care program.