The funding will go towards opening more childcare spaces in areas known as “child care deserts,” as well as renovate existing not-for-profit and public child care facilities.

Kenya Thompson, Child Care Now Nova Scotia’s Coordinator says, that the province is facing a significant childcare desert.

“In rural areas across the country—and in Nova Scotia— 61 per cent of children live in a childcare desert. So that means that 61 per cent of children do not have access to a childcare space,” Thompson said.

Access to a childcare space is critical for families as it improves children’s early learning and development and allows women the opportunity to work outside of the home, Thompson explains.

But the funding for child-care centres isn’t enough to fulfill the promises made by the federal government to create 250,000 new spaces across the country by April 2026; Child Care Now estimates that $10 billion is needed to create these new spaces.

The funding also needs to include more on creating livable wages for early childhood educators (ECEs), Thompson says.

“You cannot have a space without having an early childhood educator to provide early learning and childcare to the child who will fill that space,” Thompson says.

The infrastructure funding accompanied by better compensation for ECEs could help to recruit and retain ECEs in the province, Thompson says.

“So it's really critical that if we are going to have successful expansion of childcare across Nova Scotia, we need to include a strong wage grid and a defined benefits and compensation package for ECEs,” Thompson adds.

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