What $10 a Day Daycare Is Really Like, From a North Vancouver Parent Who Got In

All three of my kids have gone to a $10 a day daycare in North Vancouver. We have been with the same centre since 2021, and it has quietly been one of the best financial and family decisions we have ever made.

If you are a BC parent, you have probably heard of the $10 a day program and wondered if it is too good to be true. I want to walk through what it is actually like from the inside, because most of what you find online is government press releases, and those leave out the parts that matter most when you are trying to get a spot.

What the program actually is

The $10 a Day ChildCareBC program takes participating daycares and caps what parents pay at a flat rate, currently around $200 a month per child for full time care. That is not a discount code or a subsidy you apply for separately. The centre itself joins the program, and every family at that centre pays the reduced rate.

The province reports it brings the cost of full time centre based care down from about $1,120 a month to $200 a month, saving families roughly $920 a month per child (Government of BC).

That lines up almost exactly with our experience. Before we got our spot, we were paying about $1,200 a month. Now we pay $200. For us that is close to $1,000 a month back in our pockets, per child.

One thing worth clearing up, because parents mix these up constantly: the $10 a day program is not the same as the Affordable Child Care Benefit. The benefit is an income tested subsidy you apply for that can lower your costs at many centres. The $10 a day program is a flat cap at specific participating centres, regardless of income. You can read the difference on the official BC childcare page. Both exist to make care affordable, but they work differently.

The honest part: getting a spot is hard

Here is what the press releases will not tell you. There are not many $10 a day spaces in BC. Demand massively outstrips supply.

It took us about six months to get in, and we had to put our first child in other paid daycares before a spot opened up. We found our centre through an online search, but honestly, the thing that got us in was that we knew someone there and we kept following up.

That is the part that felt unfair to me as a parent. The government funds the spaces, but it leaves it up to each individual centre to decide who fills them. There is no central, controlled waitlist making sure things are fair. In practice, that means friends and family can come first, and persistence matters as much as timing. I am not saying that is wrong of any centre. I am saying it is the reality, and you should plan around it.

What you actually pay, and the sweat equity

For us, the $200 a month is the real number. That is it for tuition.

But I want to be straight about the tradeoff. Our centre is a non profit, so parents are expected to volunteer time and there are fundraisers throughout the year. How much that adds up to depends on your role. Some parents put in a few hours a month. It is real, but for what we are saving, it has been more than worth it. If you are comparing options, factor in that a non profit $10 a day centre may ask for your time on top of the tuition.

Is the care any good?

This has been such a great experience for our family, but I want to be careful here. The quality has not really been about the $10 a day program. It is just a great school with amazing teachers. The program made it affordable. The people made it good.

That is a useful thing to keep in mind while you search. A $10 a day label tells you about the price, not the quality. Do the same homework you would do for any centre. Visit, talk to the teachers, ask other parents.

What the savings actually meant for us

The biggest thing I did not expect was how much the savings changed our decisions as a family. When care costs $1,200 a month per child, every additional kid is a serious financial calculation. At $200 a month, that math changes completely. The savings genuinely made it easier for us to decide to have more kids.

That is the part that does not show up in a cost chart. Affordable child care does not just save you money. It gives you options you did not think you had.

My honest advice if you want a spot

Since there are so few $10 a day centres and so much demand, getting in is going to take time. Do not give up.

Apply to a lot of different centres, not just one. Reach out to them directly and keep letting them know you are still interested. Follow up more than feels comfortable. And if you can, get to know someone who already has a child at a centre you like, because that connection matters more than it should.

It took us six months and a lot of following up. Three kids later, I would do it all again.

Looking for daycare near you?

Whether you are hunting for a $10 a day spot or weighing all your options, the search is the hard part. On SkimScout you can browse daycares and preschools across North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Richmond, filter by age, and see them on a map so you can start with the ones closest to home.

If a centre near you takes $10 a day spots, get on their list early and keep following up. If it does not, at least you will know what your real options look like before you commit.