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Jenn Pedernera and her husband, Miguel, always wanted four children — but they’re stopping at two.

Like many families today, they find almost everything about raising children is pricier than they had anticipated.

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After their first child, Olivia, was born, the couple paid more than $17,000 for annual daycare fees so Jen could return to her graphic design job in Toronto.

“It was an expense we grew to tolerate,” she says dryly.

Canada has become a country in which it is far harder to raise a family

To put that sum into perspective, consider that, with $17,000, the Pederneras could have covered a $300,000 mortgage on the house they don’t yet own, but would like to. Had they been able to save that $17,000, they could have bought — outright — a brand-new Honda Fit four-door hatchback.

Parents of infants pay the highest fees because of lower caregiver-to-child ratios. In British Columbia pay an average of $8,460 a year for daycare. In Toronto, $24,000-a-year infant care isn’t unheard of in licensed centres. Yes, Quebec has $7-a-day childcare, but the reality for most families is much pricier (even in Quebec, every one of those coveted spots is spoken for, and waiting lists are long).