A provincial early years office, a provincewide network of local early years centres, a new child tax benefit and more child-care spaces are all part of a  provincial plan Premier Christy Clark unveiled today to offer B.C. families with young children more accessible, affordable and high-quality services.

The B.C. Early Years Strategy is an eight-year government commitment to support early childhood development and help families with child care. Government spending on early years services will increase by $76 million in the first three years of the strategy:

• $32 million to support the creation of new child-care spaces.
• $37 million in support of improving the overall quality of early years services, including child care.
• $7 million to strengthen the co-ordination of early childhood development programs and child-care services.

The foundation of the strategy is the establishment this year of a Provincial Office for Early Years to co-ordinate all policy and service improvements. Working closely with communities and the early years sector, the office will lead the implementation of a network of early years centres throughout the province that will offer one-stop access to a range of services.

As part of the strategy, a new BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit will provide $146 million to approximately 180,000 families with children under the age of six. Starting in 2015, eligible families with net incomes under $100,000 will receive the maximum refundable tax credit of $55 a month or $660 a year per child.