A new survey says daycare fees are dropping in some Canadian cities in what might be early signs of the influence of federal child-care money.
Cities like St. John's and Edmonton have seen declines in fees over the last year, and more are expected to in the coming years as provinces move to set lower fees for parents to pay.
The fifth annual survey of child-care fees from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is being released today.
It says fees for full-time, regulated child-care spaces have still risen faster than inflation in 61 per cent of cities reviewed.
But the centre's senior economist, David Macdonald, says he expects fees to go lower in coming years as more federal money flows to provinces to cover costs.
The survey found daycare costs were the highest in the Toronto area, where fees for children under 18 months average 16-hundred-85 dollars per month, and 11-hundred-50 a month for older preschoolers.
Cities in Quebec had the lowest fees for full-time, regulated spaces across the country, followed by Winnipeg and Charlottetown.
Quebec, Manitoba and P-E-I have had fixed daycare fees for years.