OTTAWA - A new report shows child care costs are rising faster than inflation, straining pocketbooks and raising questions about whether billions in new federal spending will make daycare more affordable for those who want it.

Toronto remains the most expensive city for child care, where median daycare costs families just over $21,000 a year.

The cheapest spaces are in Quebec, where provincially regulated and subsidized daycare has a median cost of $183 a month, or just under $2,200 a year.

The report on child care fees from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives also finds for the first time that child care costs in some rural areas are not all that different from the high prices in many large cities.

The Liberals have vowed to make child care affordable for those who need it and can't afford it.

Federal coffers will dole out $7.5 billion over 11 years, beginning with $500 million this year and increasing to $870 million annually by 2026 in order to fund services in provinces and territories.

Martha Friendly, co-author of the study and executive director of the Toronto-based Childcare Resource and Research Unit, says affordability is a "pervasive issue across the country."