B.C. NDP Leader David Eby faced questions on the campaign trail Tuesday after confirming his family has benefited from $10-a-day child care, a program his government decided to freeze earlier this year.
The B.C. Conservatives said it was “shocking” to learn that Eby’s family secured a $10-a-day spot for his two children, while many families in the province struggle with the high cost of child care.
Eby told reporters in Vancouver on Tuesday that, when the facility his child was attending converted to the $10-a-day program, his family decided to make a donation to the facility that amounted to the difference between the program cost and the previous higher cost of the child care spot.
“We made that decision because we didn’t feel we needed that benefit. We wanted other families to benefit,” said Eby.
He said they planned to do the same for his other child who was also in the program.
Eby did not directly answer questions about the exact amount of his family’s donation or whether the donation was a tax write-off.
The NDP government said in February that it was putting a three-year freeze on new enrolments in the $10-a-day child care program.
The 2026 budget said the province was investing $330 million in ChildCareBC to “stabilize” the program, after hearing criticism from providers about the current funding model.
The program was introduced in 2018 under John Horgan’s NDP government, with a pledge to implement universal $10-a-day child care in the next 10 years.
Provincial data shows only about 10 per cent of child care spaces are $10-a-day.
Eby noted Tuesday that his NDP government has pledged to expand before- and after-school care.
He also pointed to child care funding commitments that were included in a major agreement signed between the province and the federal government in July.
The B.C. Conservatives have not released a detailed campaign platform around child care.
The B.C. Greens have said they would lift the freeze on the $10-a- day program, and aim to implement universal free child care by 2031.
