Good morning, everyone. I'm very happy to be here in Mississauga with Karina and Iqwinder. You don't know this, but we're all gathered here for a garden party for Karina's birthday. So, happy birthday, Karina.

It's great to be able to meet with families to talk about our plan to build an economy that works for all Canadians.

I am very happy to be here for the launch of the Child Care Infrastructure Fund, which will improve access to child care for families across the country. Two years ago, our government decided to make historic investments to provide families Canada-wide with access to $10-a-day childcare.

Six provinces and territories have already reached the $10-a-day target, and fees everywhere else have come down by an average of at least 50%. This means families are now saving hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month.

This is not just about making life more affordable, it's also about growing our economy. Over the past few years, largely because of our investments in child care, the rate of women with children under six joining the workforce has skyrocketed. Studies show that for every dollar invested in early childhood education, the broader economy receives between a dollar and a half and almost $3 in return. So yes, childcare is social policy, but it's also economic policy. And today, we're here to announce that we'll continue investing in our economy, in families and in educators.

We're in the process of setting up the first Canada-wide childcare system, and we know that infrastructure is a key part of that.

We need more childcare spaces so more families can benefit from affordable, high-quality childcare. So today we're launching the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund. This is a $625 million investment over four years that will help early learning and child care providers renovate, retrofit and build new not-for-profit and public childcare facilities. Childcare providers and educators are at the forefront of building a Canada-wide system, including delivering on our $10-a-day commitment, so I want to thank them for all of their work as we continue to recognize and support their efforts here in Ontario and right across the country.

We're focused on delivering results for Canadians, and that must include better access to childcare for families.