Is Daycare Really $10 a Day in Canada? What Each Province Charges

Is daycare really $10 a day in Canada? In some provinces, yes. In others, no. $10 a day daycare is a national target for the average fee, agreed between Ottawa and each province and territory, and each one gets there its own way. In 2026 Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador charge $10 a day or its monthly equivalent, Manitoba charges $10 a day for regular hours, Quebec charges $9.65, Alberta charges about $15, and Ontario caps fees at $22. In most provinces the lower fee applies only at daycares that have joined the program, so the first question to ask a daycare is whether it has.

What do parents pay in each province in 2026?

These are the fee rules each government publishes for licensed child care, as we read them in September 2026. The last column is the date on the government's own page, because these rules change.

Ottawa's own summary, dated September 15, 2026 with figures as of April 2024, counts Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut at an average of $10 a day or less.

Sources: each government's own page, linked here. Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, and the Government of Canada.

Why isn't it $10 a day everywhere?

Because the promise was an average, and a deadline. In 2021 the federal government set out to bring regulated child care fees down to an average of $10 a day by March 2026, through a separate agreement with each province and territory. Each government chose its own method: a flat fee, a cap, a monthly rate or a fee reduction.

The agreements are still being extended. Ottawa's September 2026 summary says eleven provinces and territories have five-year extensions and that Ontario and Alberta signed one-year extensions. On September 29, 2026 Ontario agreed to four more years, to March 31, 2031.

Not every government still uses the name. Nunavut has dropped it: its government says "$10-a-day" belonged to its 2021 to 2026 agreement and now calls the program "affordable child care".

So the honest answer for Ontario is that $10 a day has not arrived. Ontario's target was an average of $10 a day by March 2026. That date has passed, the fee is capped at $22 with an average of $19, and the September 2026 extension names no new date.

Who qualifies for the lower fee?

Three things decide it.

• Your child's age. In Ontario and Saskatchewan the program covers children under 6 (in Saskatchewan, also kindergarten children who turn 6). In Alberta it covers children who are not yet in full-time kindergarten.
• Whether the daycare is licensed. The program covers licensed or regulated child care only.
• Whether the daycare has joined. No daycare has to join. In Alberta and New Brunswick, and for British Columbia's fee reduction, the daycare decides to sign up. In Ontario it applies through its local service manager, which weighs the application against local growth plans. In Ontario 92% of licensed child care sites were enrolled as of March 31, 2025, which still leaves some that charge their own fees.

If your income is low or middle, some provinces have separate help on top: Ontario's child care fee subsidy, which you apply for through your local service manager (your city, region or district board, or a Band office for First Nations), and British Columbia's Affordable Child Care Benefit, which you renew every year.

How do you check whether a daycare is in the program?

• Ontario: ask the daycare. Licensed providers must tell parents whether they are enrolled, and it has to be in the parent handbook.
• British Columbia: the province's fee reduction estimator and child care map show participating daycares, and it publishes a list of $10 a Day centres.
• Alberta: ask the daycare whether it receives the Affordability Grant. The flat monthly fee applies only where it does.

On KinderPage, a listing shows a CWELCC badge where our record says the daycare is enrolled. We have not checked it with the province, so confirm it, and the current fee, with the daycare. As an example, our Newmarket guide lists the daycares there that are marked as enrolled, and you can search daycares near you.

What does the program not do?

It lowers the fee. It does not come with a space. In British Columbia each daycare keeps its own waitlist. Prince Edward Island has a single registry.

It also covers only the basic fee. In Ontario the $22 cap applies to the base fee, and a daycare may still charge for optional extras and for late pickup.

And the fee reduction alone does not make child care free. British Columbia says that with its income-tested benefit on top, some families pay little or nothing.