The NDP is campaigning on a proposal to create affordable daycare by limiting the parents’ cost to a fixed sum. The proposed amount is $15 per day, but that is just an estimate. The balance of the cost would be apportioned 60% Federal Government/40% Provincial Government. The NDP indicates that there would be a marginal cost to Canadians.
The purpose of the plan is to bring parent care givers back into the workforce.
I reviewed two articles on the subject.
A McLeans article by John Geddes about the NDP leader’s presentation; “Should the NDP win next fall’s election, it promises to partly fund 370,000 child care spaces across Canada by 2018-19 at a cost of nearly $1.9 billion a year.” http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/get-em-while-theyre-young
A Globe and Mail article by Josh Wingrove http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mulcair-pitches-plan-for-15-a-day-child-care/article21086778/ indicates that the price per day is variable among the provinces, that for profit daycares will be acceptable and the purpose of the plan is to keep mothers in the workforce longer.
Both articles were a snapshot. Neither contained a detailed analysis of the program or commented on its feasibility or benefit to Canada as a whole. The immediate impact of the day care pledge was illustrated by an interviewer on Global Television who was told by the parent being interviewed that she was voting NDP based solely on this campaign promise.
I query the understatement of the complex components of the plan.
According to the British Columbia Child Care Cost Information website, the highest cost per month for daycare is an infant enrolled full time at a cost of $904.00 per month. The national average is $876.00 for the same daycare opportunity. In a month where there are 22 working days, the Province of BC would pay $229.60 and the federal Government would pay $344.40 http://www.godaycare.com/child-care-cost/british%20columbia

The only figures reported are that by 2018, the total number of funded daycare sports would be $370,000.00 at a cost to what I assume to be the federal Government of $1.9 billion.
My calculations are as follows:
370K DAY CARE SPOTS
AT NATIONAL AVERAGE COST $3,885,000,000.00
Cost per unit at $15 per day for user assuming 22 days per month
Month Year X 370,000 UNITS
Parent 180.00 2160.00 $ 799,200,000.00
Federal 417.00 5,004.00 $1,851,480,000.00
Provincial 278.00 3,336.00 $1,234,320,000.00
Total 875.00 10,500.00 $3,885,000,000.00

The average cost per province exceeds $100,000,000.00.
It is extremely difficult for us to gage the reality of the NDP proposal. Since we cannot see the methodology for the calculation of the base figures, we cannot judge the impact on the Canadian tax payer. My guess is that the NDP is basing the calculations on a historical cos. If I am correct, then the figures are very much understated and neglect the changes that will affect cost in the longer term. The expense to Canadian tax payers will be substantially greater in the future.
I will apply the Vancouver perspective:
1. Metro Vancouver has instituted an emphasis on public transit, bicycles and foot power to travel to and from work. In my case, public transit doubled my travel time to double. The day care would have to be open longer so I could get to the day care in time, adding cost to the daycare operation;
2. Metro Vancouver is looking at a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour, an increase of approximately $3.00 per hour over the current minimum wage. That will increase labor costs by as much as 30 per cent.
3. There is no cost of administration associated with the program to deal with registration, payment, audit of attendance, and liaison with Provincial and Federal governments. Some of the omitted considerations include regulations to control prices being charged by the day care to avoid gouging and the audit of the accuracy of the day care records.
4. The regime is not linked to working parents or income. In essence a person could pay $15 per day care fee and go golfing, fishing, play tennis or lunch with friends.
5. Provincial Guidelines for the health and safety of child day cares become stricter from time to time costing the day care owner and effectively their customers more money to pay for day care.
6. The unemployment rate in Canada is currently 7% according to Statistics Canada. However, this figure is based upon certain criteria outlined in the definition of “Labor Force” as defined by Statistics Canada. The definition of those employed includes individuals who are not working” were it not for illness, disability, family responsibilities, bad weather, labor disputes or vacations http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/labour-force/ .
7. Should more parents enter the workforce because day care becomes affordable, the unemployment figures would not change because the parents would already be included as working. However, any one working who was displaced by the parents re-entering the workforce who would be considered unemployed and looking for work would increase the unemployment rate in Canada according to the Statistics Canada definition. The effect of this program would be to make its effect employment neutral while at the same time increasing the unemployment rate in Canada.
8. In August, 2015, there was an average of 5.7 unemployed persons for each available job. If we increase the number of available people for jobs and the opportunity for employment does not increase, the persons available per job will exceed 6%.
9. The NDP stated in January 2015 that it stimulate job creation by a mixture of business tax credits. This conflicts with their statement that they will increase corporate taxes. Since that time, the Canadian economy has not performed as well as expected, leaving the federal and provincial finances in poorer shape to fund the NDP plan.
There is merit in adjusting the Child Tax day care credit to be fairer for the parents. It retains the competitiveness of the availability of the day care spots and pricing while it avoids having the taxpayer being responsible for an uncontrollable cost that will only increase in the future. In the end, job creation in the private sector must be the ultimate goal of government.