Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for inviting me to join you here today.
It is a pleasure to be here today to update you on the progress that pertains to my portfolio as Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.
The Government of Canada is focused on delivering policies and programs that make life better and more affordable for families in Canada.
We started in 2016, when we introduced the Canada child benefit. The CCB is tax-free and income-based so that it provides more support to families who need help the most. It's also indexed annually to keep pace with the cost of living. The CCB increased by 6.3% this year, which means that low-income families are receiving up to $7,437 per child under six and up to $6,275 per child aged six to 17, to help pay for everyday living expenses.
And then there is the work being done to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.
As you know, in 2021, the Government of Canada made a transformative investment of nearly $30 billion to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system with provincial, territorial, and indigenous partners.
We signed historic agreements with every province and territory to reduce parent fees for regulated child care to an average of $10 a day, create 250,000 new regulated child care spaces across the country by March 2026, and better support a well-qualified early childhood education workforce. The families of hundreds of thousands of children are already benefiting from more affordable child care. Six provinces and territories are offering child care for $10 a day or less and, in every other jurisdiction, fees for regulated child care have been cut on average by 50%, helping to put money back into people's pockets.
In Alberta, for example, families can save up to $10,300 annually per child, allowing families to move into a larger apartment or make the maximum annual contributions to their RESP. In Ontario, potential annual savings are up to $8,500 per child, which would cover the costs of annual undergrad tuition at McMaster or Queen's, for example, and allow an older child or parent to enrol in university.
But it was never just about reducing fees. It is also about growing the economy.
Studies have shown that for every dollar we've invested in early learning and child care, the broader economy would receive between $1.50 and $2.80 in return. Also, increasing access to more affordable and flexible child care helps parents, especially mothers, enter or re-enter the job market.
In many parts of Canada, the labour force participation for working-aged women with young children has reached record-high levels of nearly 80%.
However, getting affordable child care where it's needed most requires increasing the availability of regulated spaces. In response to requests from provinces and territories, the federal government is investing $625 million over four years in an early learning and child care infrastructure fund, with $75 million of this amount being requested through supplementary estimates (B). Through this fund, provinces and territories will be able to make key infrastructure investments that will support greater inclusion of underserved communities.
We're also working in collaboration with first nations, Inuit and Métis partners to ensure that affordable and culturally specific early learning and child care is available. To help grow these programs in underserved communities, the government is investing $441 million over four years to respond to indigenous early learning and child care infrastructure priorities.
In closing, let me say that our investments are about making meaningful improvements for Canadians and our economy.
I remain committed to working with my colleagues to support hard-working Canadians across the country and provide children with the best possible start in life.
With that, I welcome any questions.