Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell this week outlined some of the progress made by government in addressing access to affordable child care, but questions remain about how much more needs to be done.

Howell says some 820 child care spaces have been created in the last year.

The hope is that 3,100 new spaces will be available in the province by 2026, but government does not have specific numbers of people on child care waitlists.

The department says it does not track waitlists for regulated or unregulated child care services. The department says doing so would not provide an accurate representation of the full need for child care in the province for a variety of reasons including duplication or the potential for a lack of providers in a particular community or area.

Families often have their children on more than one waitlist, and a child may be on one or more waitlists, when they are attending another child care operation.

The department says it does engage frequently with regulated child care operations to understand the level of demand being experienced. The length of time on wait lists and demand can vary from one area to another.

A child care portal is being launched this fall to get a better indication of demand in the province and to ensure that new child care spaces align with the need.