Saint John doesn’t have the highest cost for child care in the country. That dubious distinction is held by Toronto according to a new study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Toronto has the highest fees for infants at more than $16 hundred a month. Saint John, by comparison, is $864 monthly with 70 per cent having wait lists.
Child care fees have increased by an average of more than 8% since 2014. That’s three times faster than inflation.
The cheapest daycare can be found in Quebec, ranging from $179 dollars a month in Quebec City to $164 in Montreal. A middle income family in Toronto with an infant and a toddler would have to pay $36,000 a year for regulated child care which is more than the cost of university tuition.