Eby says his family donated to child-care centre after entering $10-a-day program

Premier David Eby confirmed on October 13, 2026 that his family accessed British Columbia's $10-a-day child-care program through a YMCA facility. He said one of his children was already attending the facility when it joined the program, two years ago. He told reporters his family chose to make a donation to the centre after that happened, though he did not say how much the donation was or whether it was used as a tax write-off.

David Eby's annual salary as premier is over $227,000. His wife is a physician. The $10-a-day program has no income limit: any family whose child attends a participating facility can access the subsidized rate. The maximum a family pays at a participating centre is $200 per month per child. Daily Hive estimates the annual saving compared to regular fees at an estimated $7,200 per child. The subsidized spaces cover 10% of provincial child-care spots.

Conservative Party of BC candidate Margareta Dovgal, who is running in Vancouver-Yaletown against Terry Yung of the BC NDP, said Eby failed to deliver on his child-care promise and then used one of the scarce subsidized spots himself. She said: 'What families will not accept is a Premier who promised them $10-a-day child care, failed to deliver it, and then took one of the scarce spots for himself while a single mom working two jobs sits on a waitlist.'

The BC NDP's $10-a-day child-care program has no income limit. Any family with a child enrolled in a participating facility can receive the subsidized rate regardless of household income. The cap is set at $200 per month per child at participating centres. This is what led to the criticism: high-income households are eligible for the same subsidy as low-income ones, and there are not enough subsidized spots for every family who wants one.

According to Daily Hive's reporting of the article, the designated $10-a-day spaces represent 10% of provincial child-care spots in British Columbia. The federal-provincial agreement signed in 2021 aimed to reduce average fees for regulated child care to $10 per day by 2025-2026. Not all licensed child-care facilities are part of the program.

The story covers both. The specific event is Eby confirming his own family's use of the program and his response to criticism. The policy question it raises is whether an income limit should apply to the subsidy. The Conservative Party of BC and its candidates have used Eby's personal situation to argue the program fails to prioritize families with lower incomes. Eby's defence is that his child was already at the facility before it joined the program and his family made a donation.

Eby said: 'When that occurred, we chose as a family to make a donation to that excellent facility.' He did not say how large the donation was. When reporters asked whether he used the donation as a personal tax write-off, he did not answer that question directly, according to Daily Hive's report of the exchange.

Candidate pages for David Eby and Margareta Dovgal are on this site. You can find David Eby's page at /bc/provincial-2026/candidates/david-eby and Margareta Dovgal's page at /bc/provincial-2026/candidates/margareta-dovgal. All BC provincial election candidate pages are linked from /bc/provincial-2026.