On November 15 the Alberta Government announced the plan to start a new child care pilot project that offers a maximum $25/day.

It is part of the 'Future Ready' campaign the provincial government unveiled in October which hopes to prepare Albertans for success in a changing economy.

The program will involve 18 early learning and child care centres which will create up to 1000 new child care spaces and 230 new jobs in urban and rural communities.

Rachel Notley, Alberta's Premier, says the focus is to provide affordable, accessible, and quality child care, as well as economic security for parents entering the workforce.

“Programs in the 18 early learning and childcare centers will be flexible to accommodate for parents who do shift work. They will be easily accessible and in locations like hospitals or in other public buildings, they will provide supports for children with diverse needs.”

Dominic Hickey, Cochrane Early Learning Centre, Owner, says it would be great to be part of the pilot but if not accepted it could have a negative impact on his business.

“We would certainly consider applying for it beyond a show of a doubt. I suppose it's of a concern because if the government is going to almost 'government run', for lack of a better term, their own daycares and if they can afford to pay the staff and everything like that, I could see there's a possibility we could lose our clients.”

The government is inviting all non-profit organizations and licenced child care programs to apply to receive the $500,000 operating grant but they must meet the qualifications such as flexible hours, insuring $25/day rates, high quality early learning programs, and well trained staff.

Successful applicants will be announced in early 2017.