Why do daycare costs vary so much between Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary?

When we moved to Vancouver from Toronto, we expected to pay more for housing, transportation and food. According to Numbeo, grocery prices are 17.9 per cent higher, gas is 13.2 per cent higher and transit tickets are 4.5 per cent higher in Vancouver than Toronto. But one higher expense caught us off guard: daycare.

Wasn’t the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system designed to cut the cost of daycare to an average of $10 a day across the country?

My first instinct was to blame Vancouver’s notoriously unaffordable real estate, but Toronto’s wasn’t exactly cheap either. So why do subsidized daycare costs vary so much?

I decided to look at three big cities: Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.

According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in Vancouver the median cost of daycare for an infant is $40 a day. In Toronto, it’s $22 a day, and in Calgary, it’s $15 a day.

In Vancouver, the range of daycare costs is especially jarring because according to the CCPA, 45 per cent of preschool spaces only cost $10 a day while 25 per cent of them cost nearly five times as much, at more than $46 a day.

This means that one family could be paying $11,960 a year per child, while another pays just $2,600, despite living in the same city.

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It’s tempting to blame the price difference on the cost of real estate. After all, renting or buying a space as a daycare operator in Vancouver won’t cost the same as in Calgary, and wages and other expenses also play a role. But that’s only part of the reason and it doesn’t explain why two Vancouver families can face such different bills.

A main reason for these price discrepancies is the method in which provincial governments have chosen to structure their child care subsidies.

B.C., for example, provides a subsidy toward the daycare provider’s market price. This means unless that daycare is one of the ones that participate in the $10 a day option, the cost could vary widely, since it’s a discount from its market value. But if you’re one of the lucky ones who manages to find $10 a day, you’re sitting pretty.

Ontario, on the other hand, sets capped fees at subsidized centres at $22 a day. If the centre doesn’t apply or isn’t eligible, they charge market rates. So unless you live or work near one of the subsidized centres, you’re paying higher market rates.

Alberta sets a flat rate of $326.25 a month, the equivalent of $15 a day, at participating centres, and there are no separate $10-a-day daycares.

Eligibility differs across provinces. Not all daycares apply and daycares must be approved to participate in the government-subsidized programs. Not all do.

For parents, it’s not as straightforward as just putting yourself on the waiting list of a subsidized daycare and getting a spot.

Unlike choosing a data plan or clothing store, there are special restrictions, such as distance to home and work, or hours that fit your work schedule, among many other factors.

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Even if you are lucky enough to snag a coveted $10-a-day daycare spot, you may have to weigh that against the extra cost and time, if the daycare is far from work and home, or you need to supplement with additional child care arrangements if the hours don’t fit your work hours.

The national daycare program has provided significant savings to parents all over the country, and it’s a vast improvement over the fees parents had to shoulder before. But the massive difference in daycare costs means that depending on where you live, some parents may have to work longer to afford daycare.

Assuming full-time daycare of five days a week for 52 weeks a year, it would cost parents $10,400 a year in Vancouver, $5,720 a year in Toronto and $3,900 a year in Calgary, based on the reported median daily fee.

Let’s translate that into hours worked. According to StatsCan, the median hourly wage for Canadian employees in 2025 was $30.77, before tax. For simplicity, using before-tax wages across cities, this means the Vancouver parent would need to work 211 extra hours a year, compared to the Calgary parent. That’s the equivalent of five extra weeks of work.

I’m not saying parents should pack up and move to Calgary to cut daycare costs. There are many reasons a family might pick a city, outside of daycare. Nor am I saying that national daycare isn’t helpful.

Still, it’s ironic that the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system, which was designed to help parents across the country afford daycare, has inadvertently resulted in costs varying wildly depending on your postal code, because of how provincial governments have chosen to structure the subsidies.

If you’re curious about how daycare costs in your city stack up against other cities, this daycare explorer lets you find out.

Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are early retirees and co-authors of Parent Like a Millionaire (Without Being One).”