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, reduces fees for families and enhance wages for early childhood educators.

On this page

• My ChildCareBC Services
• Information for 2026-27
• Eligibility requirements and details

Participating in the Child Care Operating Funding - Base funding, the Child Care Fee Reduction Intiative 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

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My ChildCareBC Services 

My ChildCareBC Services brings Child Care Operating Funding, the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, and the Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement together in one convenient self-service system. As part of this transition, the Child Care Web Application and Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement Reporting Tool are no longer available for reporting or organization and facility management.

For information on your next steps and actions required following the launch, please refer to the July 24 email.

My ChildCareBC Services resources and key dates

Information for 2026-27

Starting in January 2026, child care providers may renew their Child Care Operating Funding. Please review the 2026-27 Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative funding guidelines and 2026-27 Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement funding guidelines to learn more.

This year, there are no major changes to base funding or the wage enhancement program. However, there are several policy shifts for the fee reduction program, including:

• As of April 1, 2026, providers in the fee reduction program must offer at least 9.5 hours of care per day before they can charge additional fees for extra hours
• Providers transitioning from the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program to the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative need to meet specific conditions related to their parent fees and are expected to maintain comparable hours and services, keep staff wages and benefits, and  cannot introduce optional fees for previously included services
  • 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-day 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

Providers joining the fee reduction program must start with fees that reflect typical rates in their region.

The affordability benchmarks for new child care providers will remain at the regional 80th percentile for children under 36 months, and at the 75th percentile for all other child care categories.

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.

In addition to the 3% fee increase, providers receive base funding, fee reductions for families, provider payments and wage enhancements for their staff

Important timelines and additional information are available on the apply or renew web page. If you have questions or need support, call the Child Care Service Centre at 1-888-338-6622 (option 2), Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Eligibility requirements