Quebec charges $9.65 a day and has the highest waitlist share of any province, at 56.1% of children under six who are not in care. Alberta charges $15 and has the lowest, at 14.1%. B.C. has the country’s highest fees and a share of 27.7%, close to Saskatchewan’s.

Across the ten provinces the link between fee and waitlist share is weak (a correlation of −0.35). At $10 a day, the share runs from 27.0% in Saskatchewan to 43.4% in Newfoundland and Labrador. Supply, population and how families register matter as much as price.

The waitlist figure counts children not in care whose parent reports being on a list. Families may be on several lists or registered before they need care, so it does not measure how long anyone waits. Check your own province’s figure rather than assuming a cheap or expensive fee tells you how hard the search will be.

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: The $10-a-day divide, child care fees in Canada in 2026

Source: Statistics Canada Table 42-10-0106-01: Waitlists by province and age

Multiply the daily fee by about 21.7 to get an average month for full-time care, five days a week for 52 weeks. Your invoice may be a flat monthly amount, so check the provider’s own figure.

• Montréal at $9.65 a day is about $209 a month.
• Winnipeg at $10 is about $217, and Calgary at $15 is about $325.
• Toronto at $22 is about $477 for infant or preschool care.
• In B.C., $28 to $52 a day for an infant spans about $607 to $1,127 a month, depending on the city and provider.

The CCPA compares 2026 fees with 2019 fees adjusted for inflation. Toronto parents of infants save more than $1,800 a month, and Toronto-area suburbs save $1,300 to $1,500. Calgary preschool parents save more than $1,300 a month. B.C. infant savings are $300 to $500 a month, and Richmond preschool savings are only $264. Quebec families saw almost no change, because their fee was already low in 2019.

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: The $10-a-day divide, child care fees in Canada in 2026

Infant spaces are the least common type of full-time care because they need the most staff per child, so they are hard to find at any price. In 2025, 56.5% of children under one who were not in care were reported on a waitlist, compared with 26.3% of children aged one to three.

If you are pregnant or have a baby, the table matters less than the calendar. Read our guide on when to join daycare waitlists.

Source: Statistics Canada: published 2023 and 2025 waitlist chart

In British Columbia and Nova Scotia each provider sets its own fee. The table shows the middle of the market. In B.C., for-profit centres consistently charge more than non-profits, and only a small minority of centres charge $10 a day. Compare several quotes there, and ask whether a centre is in the $10-a-day program.

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: The $10-a-day divide, child care fees in Canada in 2026

The $22 a day figure applies to spaces in the federal program. A centre outside it may charge more, so look up the centre’s status before you assume the number applies. See our guide to Montessori centres and CWELCC for how to check.

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: The $10-a-day divide, child care fees in Canada in 2026

Fees are city medians weighted by number of spaces, for two age groups: infants (roughly 18 months and younger) and preschool-age children (roughly three to five). Toddler fees are not shown. Waitlist figures are provincial, so two cities in the same province share them. The centre percentage is the share of providers serving children up to 12 that reported an active list in April 2024, so it counts providers, not children.