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An NDP government would subsidize all child care spaces in Alberta at a cost of $1.5 billion over five years, Premier Rachel Notley said Monday.

It would expand on a two-year-old pilot project that offers $25-a-day daycare for 7,300 spots in 122 facilities throughout the province.

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The new program would provide the same cost cap for parents, but for 62,000 child care spots with the goal of adding 13,000 more, Notley said in Calgary.

“Child care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Child care is the medicare of the 21st century,” said Notley, posing with children and parents in a play area of Telus Spark.

The premier said the announcement is probably the priciest plank in the NDP’s election platform, but cited the societal benefits. She forecast it would add nearly $6 billion to Alberta’s GDP by bringing more women into the workforce, and that means the plan would pay for itself.

Notley also took a dig at UCP leader Jason Kenney whom she said would prefer to ding the province’s coffers by tax cuts he proposed earlier this month.