Price cut results in longer daycare waiting lists
Price cut results in longer daycare waiting lists
New YMCA daycare centre almost ready in Warkworth
The good news, no actually the great news for parents lucky enough to have their children in daycare is that the federal government has cut their fees by 52.5 per cent.
But the bad news for the parents of more than 3,000 children in Northumberland who are looking for daycare spots is that the price cut has just added more kids to that waiting list, as not enough new spaces have been created to meet the increased demand.
Efforts to add spaces are being slowed by a lack of money from Ottawa and Queen’s Park and a lack of staff, says Lesley Patterson, Manager Early Years Services, for Northumberland County.
The Liberal government has talked about a national average of $10 a day daycare, but the actual cost now is a minimum of $12, said Northumberland YMCA, which provides before and after school child care programs at Kent, Hastings, and Percy Centennial public schools.
A new licensed child-care facility is under construction in Warkworth at 161 Old Hastings Road, formerly the home of Serendipitous Old Stuff Lounge.
Renovations on this facility should be done next month, but the official opening date has not been announced yet as it is dependent upon licensing from the Ministry of Education.
The new Warkworth facility will be able to accommodate 15 toddlers and 32 pre-schoolers. Spots in this new child-care centre will first be offered to families on the YMCA’s waiting list.
The YMCA purchased the building and the county used provincial and federal funding to cover most of the cost of renovations, Patterson said. “We're not allowed to build something new, but we can retrofit and renovate or do additions.”
The YMCA is actively seeking staff for this facility, and its other YMCA Child Care Programs to help support more families in the area. Anyone interested working in YMCA Child Care should contact samantha.gray@nrt.ymca.ca.
The only registered daycare centre in Campbellford is Compass Early Learning and Care’s Beehive centre which can accommodate 57 children -- five infants, 20 toddlers and 32 preschoolers. It also operates the before and after school program at Hillcrest Public School. Compass Early Learning, based in Peterborough, is a non-profit that operates 42 licensed centres and over 50 licensed homes serving over 4,000 families.
On its website, Compass warns that its waiting lists are long and parents may never end up getting a spot for their child. “We encourage you to apply to several programs in your area to increase your chances of securing a space for your child,” it says.
Northumberland County does not operate any daycares but it is the main point of contact with other levels of government and Patterson works to ensure local centres take advantage of the many, complicated funding programs, including the federal early learning program.
One challenge for operators has been that the federal government froze funding at the 2022 level. Due to Covid, most centres had not raised their rates for a couple of years before that, so they have been stuck at a barebones level, while inflation has hit their costs.
The province had promised a new funding formula would be ready this year, but now says it will take effect in 2025. Patterson said operators need to know the details of this plan well ahead of time so they can do their budgeting. “I have been told there will be another reduction in parent fees in January.”
Last February, in a pre-budget submission to the province, the YMCA wrote that the current flow of money has left "many non-profit operators with deficits and uncertain outlooks."
“We are lucky in Northumberland that we haven't had a centre close,” Patterson says.
Finding and retaining staff is a continuing challenge for daycares across the country, she says. Under Ministry of Education regulations, the hourly rate for registered early childhood educators is a minimum of $23.86 and a ceiling of $26, for daycare facilities that are part of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system (CWELCC).
Compass says the daily fee for an infant in its care is $23.27, while a preschooler is $20.44. In 2022, those fees were $49.25 for infants and $43.25 for preschoolers.
Under the national program, Northumberland is expected to add 404 new spaces by 2026. With the new centre in Warkworth and new spots in Cobourg and Port Hope, it will have 156 new spots.
The national target is to have daycare spots for 37 per cent of children from 0-5. Currently, in Northumberland, we have spots for 28 per cent of those kids.
“Right now, we've maxed out our expansion with the current funding we have,” Patterson says. “So, we're hopeful the new funding model will bring us some good news to help us keep reaching our target.”
She’s hoping the financing changes will allow operators to stop worrying so much about finances and put their focus on care for the young children in their care.
