BC NEWS

Thursday, March 7, 2024

The Province is replenishing funding that helps families that need it most cover the extra costs of school activities or buying school supplies for their children.

“The Student and Family Affordability Fund is truly making a difference for families, and will ensure students are supported throughout the school year and no student is left out because of costs,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “Teachers and principals see students every day and know what kind of supports they might need. Parents or families who are struggling with expenses should know that this funding is there for you.” 

The Student and Family Affordability Fund will add an additional $20 million from the Province to help schools provide support directly to families within their school communities. Funding will be used to help pay for student necessities, such as school supplies, school fees and class trips, as well as additional costs associated with joining a school sports team or music program.

“Ensuring that students and families feel empowered and supported to participate equally in school activities is a foundational piece in ensuring student success,” said Ravi Parmar, MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca. “The Student and Family Affordability Fund has been transformative for so many schools, including those in the Sooke School District. I am eager to see how schools will further utilize this expanded funding to help our kids be the best they can be.”

This funding builds on more than $60 million provided through the Student and Family Affordability Fund over the past two years, which has helped students throughout the province with costs, such as schools supplies and helping with the price of class trips. This is on top of the largest investment in food programs in the Province’s history of $214 million over three years through the Feeding Futures Fund to ensure school districts can create and expand their school food programs so students can access food during the school day.

The Province is also making child care more affordable. On top of the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program, families of school-aged children and children attending half-day preschool at licensed facilities have been saving as much as $145 per month per child since September 2023. Families with kindergarten-aged children and younger are also saving as much as $900 per month at participating licensed child care programs.

In addition to the replenishment of the Student and Family Affordability Fund, Budget 2024 also provides strong affordability measures for people, including a one-time BC Electricity Affordability Credit that will help reduce electricity bills for people and businesses in the coming year, and increases to the BC Family Benefit.

Written and released by: BC Government