Have You Been Able to Get a $10-a-Day Childcare Spot?

$10-a-Day Childcare Is More Affordable — But Can Canadian Families Actually Find a Spot?

Canada’s $10-a-day childcare initiative was designed to make licensed childcare significantly more affordable for families. For parents who have secured a spot in a participating program, lower fees can mean hundreds of dollars in savings each month.

But affordability is only one part of the childcare equation.

Across Canada, many parents are also navigating the challenge of actually finding a licensed childcare space that participates in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. Waitlists, limited infant and toddler spaces, staffing challenges and differences in availability from one community to another can all affect families’ experiences.

That leads us to this week’s Canadian Parent poll:

Have You Been Able to Get a $10-a-Day Childcare Spot?

If you currently have — or recently had — a child under 6, have you been able to secure a spot in a $10-a-day licensed daycare program?

• Yes
• No
• I don’t have children under 6 / N/A

Cast your vote and see how your experience compares with other Canadian parents.

What Does “$10-a-Day Childcare” Actually Mean?

The term “$10-a-day childcare” refers to the federal, provincial and territorial Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreements aimed at reducing average childcare fees to approximately $10 per day.

The exact implementation varies by province and territory, and $10 a day does not necessarily mean every participating family pays exactly $10 for every day of care.

In Ontario, for example, the province has been gradually reducing parent fees through CWELCC. The Ontario government says that 92% of licensed childcare spaces for children ages 0 to 5 were in CWELCC-enrolled programs as of June 2025. The province has also committed to creating 86,000 net new licensed childcare spaces above 2019 levels by the end of 2026. (Ontario⁠)

Affordable Childcare Still Requires an Available Space

Reducing childcare fees can make a major difference to a family’s budget, but those savings depend on parents being able to access a participating childcare space in the first place.

Demand can vary considerably depending on where a family lives, the age of the child and the type of care needed. A parent looking for an infant space, for example, may have a very different experience from a family looking for preschool care.

The expansion of childcare spaces is therefore a major part of the CWELCC initiative alongside fee reductions. Under the Canada-Ontario agreement, Ontario committed to creating 86,000 licensed childcare spaces above 2019 levels by the end of 2026. (Canada⁠)

And the expansion is still underway. Ontario’s revised 2026 targets include more than 375,000 CWELCC spaces for children ages 0 to 5 across the province. 

We Want to Hear From Canadian Parents

Statistics can tell us how many childcare spaces exist, but they don’t always capture what finding childcare actually looks like for families.

Were you able to find a participating daycare relatively easily? Did you spend months — or longer — on waitlists? Did you eventually take a spot outside the program because you couldn’t wait? Or are you still searching?

Vote in our poll and share your experience. The results will help us get a clearer picture of whether Canadian families who need childcare are actually able to access the more affordable spaces being created.