Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister on creating more child care spaces for families in Ontario

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I am so glad to be here with the Prime Minister, with my colleagues Jenna Sudds and Marci Ien, and MPs Peter Fragiskatos and Arielle Kayabaga. And I am especially glad to be here with the team from the YMCA, with Andrew Lockie (CEO, YMCA of Southwestern Ontario) and the incredible early learning and child care workers who are here.

Our budget is about ensuring fairness for every generation—especially younger Canadians.

That is why a major part of our plan is helping young parents across Canada by improving access to affordable early learning and child care.

Child care is expensive. Without government help, monthly fees can easily add up to a second rent or mortgage payment.

Young people—and let’s be honest, young women—all too often have to choose between having a family and having a career. That is just not right. It’s not fair, and our government is changing that.

That is why, three years ago, we did something truly historic and launched our Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care.

And we have delivered.

Today, child care fees are down by at least 50 per cent across Canada. In eight provinces and territories, child care costs just $10-a-day. This year, families in Ontario are saving up to $8,500—per child. 

Early learning and child care is feminist social policy—and we are proud of that. It is also feminist economic policy. Our affordable system of early learning and child care has already enabled a near record-high labour force participation rate of 85.5 per cent for working age Canadian women. And that is driving jobs and growth for us all.

This is incredible progress. But more needs to be done. When we talk to young parents, they tell us how difficult it is to find a child care space.

That is why we are creating more child care spaces across Canada to help provide what we need: more spaces in beautiful early learning and child care centres like this one—the Stationview YMCA Child Care Centre.

I’m going to conclude by sharing some great economic news:

Last week, we learned that Canada and Canadians added 90,000 new jobs in April, blowing past expectations. That means today, almost 1.3 million more Canadians are working compared to before the pandemic.

The OECD expects the Canadian economy to see the second fastest rate of growth among the G7 this year and the fastest growth in 2025, tied with the U.S.

And last month, Moody’s, one of the leading credit ratings agencies, re-affirmed Canada’s triple-A credit rating with a stable outlook. Moody’s also predicts that, over the medium term, Canada will see stronger economic growth than some other triple-A economies and that inflation will be near the Bank of Canada’s midpoint target of two per cent.

These are very powerful economic proof points. They show that Canada’s economy is strong and resilient. They show that our economic plan is fiscally responsible. And that really matters, because it means that we can afford to make the investments Canada needs and create the good jobs Canadians need. It means the federal government can responsibly invest and borrow at lower costs, as can other orders of government and Canadian businesses. 

Thank you very much.