Local parents will be getting a hand from the federal government as part of its latest budget.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the financial plan this afternoon on Parliament Hill and promised billions in new spending for provinces to create child care spaces and drive down fees.
The plan would aim to see an average drop in fees next year by 50 per cent for preschooler daycare spaces and eventually have an average fee of $10 a day across the country outside of Quebec, which has its own system.
For small and medium-sized businesses, the current wage subsidy will be extended as well as the rent subsidy and its lockdown top-ups to September 25th.
The government will also expand the timeframe of its COVID-19 income support programs for those taking sick leave because they’ve contracted virus, are in self-isolation or must take time off work to care for children and family.
Freeland is also topping up the Liberals’ 10-year, $40-billion housing strategy with an additional $2.5-billion commitment, with about 60 per cent of that going towards construction of 4,500 new units under the so-called Rapid Housing Initiative.
Meantime, the plan allots $5.7 billion over five years to helping post-secondary students, more than half of which will go to doubling federal student grants, on top of cash set aside to waive interest on federal student loans until March 2023.
