Licensed family day home agencies can now apply for funding through the province’s $50-million Child Care Space Creation Grant program.
The province says providing funding to licensed family day home agencies will increase affordable child-care spaces for Alberta families in high-need and high-demand areas.
“By expanding the space creation grant to licensed family day home agencies, we will create new child-care spaces in communities with limited or no child-care options, including small, rural and remote areas,” said Children’s Services Minister Mickey Amery, in a statement.
Opening up the funding will support the creation of up to 5,500 additional new licensed child-care spaces and move Alberta closer to its goal of creating 68,700 new affordable child-care spaces by 2026.
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Sonia Grams, co-chair of the Alberta Family Child Care Association, said licensed family day homes are essential to the success of the Alberta-Canada Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
“The inclusion of licensed family day homes to access funding will be an important recruitment tool. The funding can help offset startup costs for day home educators, incentivize unlicensed homes to become licensed, and increase accessibility to affordable licensed child-care spaces for families,” Grams said.
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Applications are available immediately for funding of up to $1,350 per space for licensed family day home agencies to recruit, train and support new providers as well as to help these new providers with startup costs.
“We know that a strong early learning and child-care system will drive economic growth, increase women’s participation in the workforce, and offer each child in Canada the best start in life,” said Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould.