N.S. expanding before and after-school child care

CITYnews halifax / By Chris Halef

The province says it is expanding before and after-school child care across Nova Scotia.

The government announced it was adding the before-and-after program to 21 schools across the province.

It is also adding spaces at some current locations. In total, more than 1,200 new spaces are expected to be created for the 2025-26 school year.

Now the program aims to provide care for children between the ages of four to 12 enrolled in public school before classes begin and after they end.

“Before and after programs are convenient and affordable child-care options for families with school-aged children,” Brendan Maguire, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, said. “We’re on a mission to make life easier for families and to ensure parents can find affordable child care that meets their needs.”

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The province says this school year, 4,000 spaces are expected to be operational in more than 100 participating schools.

That compared to the previous year, where there were 3,000 spaces at 83 school sites.

Child care costs high in Halifax

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the data says, Halifax has the sixth most expensive child care fees out of 35 major Canadian cities.

The median fee for daycare in Halifax was $24 a day per child as of April, according to the think tank’s study, more expensive than fees in Toronto, Oakville, Ottawa and all other Atlantic cities studied.

The report examined the progress provinces and territories are making on hitting the federal government’s target of having regulated child care cost an average of $10 a day by 2026.

In 2021, the federal Liberals budgeted $27 billion over five years to reach child care deals with all 13 provinces and territories. And while Ottawa succeeded in striking all 13 agreements — and even though fees have dropped significantly across the country since 2021 — the federal government is unlikely to meet its self-imposed deadline.