Report

Cost Estimate of the Federal National Child Care Plan

Feb 3, 2022

This report provides an estimated cost of the provincial and territorial aspects of the federal national child care plan announced in Budget 2021.

Highlights

The PBO estimated the provincial and territorial aspects of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan to be a cumulative net cost of $26,439 million by the end of 2025-26.
This estimate was then compared to the funding outlined for this plan in Budget 2021.
The gross cost would be $28,283 million, $1,083 million more than the $27,200 million outlined in Budget 2021 for the provincial and territorial aspects of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan.
In addition to increasing the number of child care spaces and providing fee subsidies, the plan would impact Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED) claims, income tax revenue, and Canada Child Benefit (CCB) transfers. This would lead to a cumulative cost recovery of $1,844 million by the end of 2025-26.