Tax rebate for up to $6,750 of child-care costs announced by PC Party

As Ontarians are set to vote in the provincial election June 7, Ontario's Progressive Conservatives have promised today that if elected in the provincial election, they will cover up to $6,750 of childcare costs for Ontario families through a tax rebate program.

Tory MPP Laurie Scott announced the plan in a media release, which promises tax breaks for multiple forms of care, including babysitters, nannies, licensed operators and independent child-care providers.

Low-income families would receive 75 per cent of their child-care costs back, at a maximum of $6,750; higher income families would receive an incrementally lower rate, bottoming out at 26 per cent of child-care costs for families earning $150,000 or more.

The pledge comes one month after Premier Kathleen Wynne released the Liberal party's child-care plan, which would provide free care for preschoolers aged two-and-a-half and older, until they reach kindergarten.

Ontario's New Democrats say they would provide free child care for all families earning less than $40,000 a year, and would aim to have child-care costs averaging $12 per day for all other families.

The Tories say their plan to offer relief through tax rebates is better because it puts money back into the hands of Ontarians.

The Tory plan would go into effect as early as 2019 if Ford is elected as Premier -- a year earlier than the Liberal plan for free licensed daycare would go into effect.

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