Bulletin
Guidelines on how to share your thoughts on childcare to the BC Government
June 17, 2026
To: all MoveUP members
The BC Government wants to know British Columbians’ thoughts on the future of childcare in BC, to know what programs are working and where improvements are still needed.
The childcare survey is now open and will close on Wednesday, July 9 at 4 p.m. PT.
Before you begin
The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and other advocates have raised some important concerns about the survey design. Specifically, the survey offers limited response options in some areas, forces choices between universal low-fee childcare and supports for lower-income families (when both are necessary and not in competition) and asks respondents to rank priorities that should be strengthened simultaneously rather than traded off against each other.
The Coalition has developed a detailed Survey Primer that walks through each question, explains where the wording is confusing or problematic, and shares how they are responding themselves.
We strongly recommend reviewing the Survey Primer before you start the survey or keep it open alongside you as you work through it.
Key considerations
The BC Federation of Labour has provided a list of key issues to consider as you are filling out the survey and guided by the Survey Primer. We encourage you to keep these in mind as well.
- Income testing is not the solution to improve access to affordable childcare. Income testing creates barriers, stigmatizes access, and undermines the universal system families depend on.
- The pause on $10/day enrollment must not become a rollback. The current freeze must result in a strengthened and expanded universal system, not going backwards to higher fees, income-testing, or market-based approaches.
- We need good jobs for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and Education Assistants (EAs). The childcare system cannot function without a stable, qualified, and fairly compensated workforce. A legislated wage grid with competitive rates, benefits, pensions, and career progression is the standard BC should be working towards.
- Public childcare spaces must be the foundation. Public dollars should build and sustain a public system.
- We need collective funding, not higher parent fees. Childcare is a public good and should be funded collectively through the progressive tax system.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey and for helping us champion better childcare in BC.
In solidarity,
Christy Slusarenko
Chair, Women & Gender Rights Committee