Most significant service public search for is CHILD CARE. The cost of child care is rising quickly in Canada, in some cities increasing by as much as 20 % from three years ago and more than 10 % in most of Canada.
Researchers from the CCPA ( Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) gathered information from regulated full-day licensed child-care centres and licensed child-care homes in 28 markets across Canada, using fees charged between June and October of this year.And guess what they got? Eye opening results.
Since 2014, the CCPA report calculates that preschool child-care costs have increased by 21 per cent in Toronto, by 19 per cent in Edmonton, by nine per cent in Vancouver and by six per cent in Ottawa. 
Fees have risen faster than inflation in 71% of markets compared to last year. And the gap is widening between cities with the highest and lowest prices, a trend observed in the group’s previous reports.
CCPA senior economist David Macdonald said, “Child-care fees in most of Canada are still outpacing inflation and for many they were too expensive to begin with.”
Three provinces — Quebec, Manitoba and P.E.I. regulate maximum fees for child care and prices those markets tend to be lower. Quebec’s fees are the same regardless of the child’s age, while the other two provinces charge more for infants and toddlers, as is the case elsewhere.
In the report, children up to the age of 2 are considered infants. Parents in Toronto pay more than anyone else in the country for infant care with a median fee of $1,758 a month. That’s $21,096 a year.
Median means half of the prices are lower and half are higher.
Vancouver came next at $1,292, followed by its suburbs Richmond and Burnaby. The Toronto-area markets of Mississauga, Vaughan and Brampton all had fees above $1,100 a month.
That compares with Montreal where monthly child care costs $168 a month through a government-regulated program.
In virtually every city, the median price for preschool stayed the same or increased last year. In only three places — St John’s, Burnaby and Calgary did the cost decrease.
