Child Care Operating Funding

Child Care Operating Funding supports eligible licensed providers through:

• Base funding
• Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative
• Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement

This funding helps providers cover day-to-day operating costs, reduce fees for families and enhance wages for early childhood educators.

On this page

• Information for 2026-27
• Eligibility requirements and details
• Reporting on ChildCareBC

Participating in the operating funding, fee reduction and wage enhancement programs is optional. To opt in to the fee reduction and wage enhancement programs, providers must be approved for base funding.

Apply or renew

 Information for 2026-27

• Starting in January 2026, child care providers may renew their Child Care Operating Funding. Please see the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative funding guidelines and Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement funding guidelines for 2026-27 to learn more and to opt in to each program
• This year, there are no major changes to base operating funding or the wage enhancement program. However, there are several policy shifts for the fee reduction program, including:
• As of April 1, 2026, child care providers in the fee reduction program may only charge optional fees for extended hours after offering a minimum of 9.5 hours of service in a day during their regular hours of operation
• Providers leaving the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program to join the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative need to meet specific conditions. They are expected to maintain comparable hours of operation and services for families and cannot introduce optional fees for previously included services. In addition, providers must maintain existing wages, benefits and hours of employment for staff
  • To avoid gaps in funding, applicants to the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program should renew their Child Care Operating Funding agreements while waiting for a decision on their $10-a-ay program application
• A streamlined pathway for school board-operated child care programs to set fees that help recover reasonable costs to operate child care on school grounds. This aligns with recent changes to enable school districts in B.C. to support families with more child care on school grounds
• Child care providers joining the fee reduction program must start with fees that reflect typical rates in their region. Providers already in the fee reduction program can raise their fees by up to 3% of the regional median fee, or higher in limited cases
• The affordability benchmarks for new child care centres will remain at the regional 80th percentile for children under 36 months, and at the 75th percentile for all other child care categories
• In addition to the 3% fee increase, providers receive base funding, fee reductions for families, provider payments and wage enhancements for their staff
• To learn more, check the fee reduction or wage enhancement guidelines. Important timelines and additional information is available on the operating funding web page. If you have questions or need support, call the Child Care Service Centre at 1-888-338-6622 (press 2), Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Eligibility requirements

Reporting on ChildCareBC

View B.C. Child Care Data and Reports for ChildCareBC programs across the province.