Liberals can afford to spend $8 billion a year on daycare program, IMF says
OTTAWA — International Monetary Fund researchers say the federal government can afford to spend $8 billion annually to reduce the cost of child care spaces nationwide because the program would pay for itself.
The proposal is more than 10 times what the Liberals have promised to spend annually over the next decade on child care.
The IMF predicts the cash would bring down the national average for child care fees by about 40 per cent, a figure expected to be high enough that it could entice more women into the workforce and drive greater economic growth.
By the organization’s estimates, there are about 150,000 highly-educated women who are stay-at-home parents.