New Brunswick is getting federal funding to help build more child care spaces.
The federal government announced a $17.6-million investment over four years on Wednesday.
Officials said it would help New Brunswick reach its goal of building 3,400 new child care spaces by 2026.
“As a government, we want to support the creation of early learning and child care spaces and this includes reducing barriers for not-for-profit groups,” Early Childhood Development Minister Bill Hogan said in a news release.
“Providing funding to support start-up and construction is an important part of this work and we are grateful to the federal government for their support.”
The funding announced Wednesday comes from the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund.
It supports infrastructure projects for not-for-profit child care spaces in underserved communities, such as rural and remote regions, as well as high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods.
The fund is also meant to support families in communities that face barriers to access, including racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, as well as parents, caregivers and children with disabilities.
Funding may also be used to support infrastructure to provide care during non-standard hours.