More families in Red Deer will have access to affordable child care, thanks to a provincial funding announcement for 90 new and newly affordable spaces.

Red Deer Child Care will be able to provide 78 newly affordable Early Learning and Child Care spaces. These are existing licensed spaces that will now be offered to parents for $25 per day or less.

In addition, the Federation des parents francophone de l’Alberta in Red Deer will be able to create 12 brand-new spaces, which will also be offered to parents for $25 per day or less.

Red Deer MLAs Barb Miller and Kim Schreiner have been advocating for more affordable child-care spaces in this community, and are happy with the results.

“High-quality child care shouldn’t break the bank, and I’ve heard this is a priority for many in Red Deer. These new spaces will make a big difference for many families, especially those of limited means,” said Miller, MLA for Red Deer-South.

“For far too long in this province, affordable child care has not been on the radar. I am so proud to see this government stepping up. Expanding the existing child-care pilot program will make life better for many Red Deer families,” said Schreiner, MLA for Red Deer-North.

This week Premier Rachel Notley and Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee announced that 100 new Early Learning and Child Care Centres across the province would be added to the existing 22 centres that opened last year as part of a province-wide pilot project.

With a total of 7,300 spaces now across the province, this program is expected to create 450 child-care jobs, empower more than 1,400 parents to enter or re-enter the workforce, and put big smiles on thousands of little faces.

-Submitted by the Government of Alberta