Prince Albert daycare operators raise concerns over provincial funding changes

“With wait lists being 400 children plus, you hear many sad stories that they really need daycare and that flexibility is now gone.”

The core $10/day parent fee remains, but the changes to the government grant models means some providers may implement mandatory extra monthly fees for families to help offset cuts and rising operating costs.

According to a news release from the NDP, families at YMCA daycare centres in Regina and Moose Jaw recently received letters outlining new charges that will take effect Sept. 1, including a $75 monthly fundraising fee, a $15 monthly administration fee and an annual $125 enrolment fee.

While no such measures have occurred in Prince Albert yet, Demorest admitted she has had to consider increasing fees, but added she first needs to look at what is fair to pass on to parents. She said another concern is that funding amounts vary from city to city.

“So, for example, our grant amount for a preschool child is $400, whereas in Saskatoon or Regina, it can be up to $800,” she said.

Asked if she has ever received an answer from the government as to why, she said no.

Children’s Choice co-executive director Danielle Werchuk said the organization has only ever done fundraising for the community, TeleMiracle, the promotion of children’s art and scholarships.

“This year will be the first year we fundraise for us. Due to the new restrictions, we are looking at how to recover the revenue from the restrictions on part-time and casual spaces and the limitations on ‘stacking’ children.”

Werchuk also reiterated Demorest’s comments about the funding gaps and said they are all on a wage grid to pay staff the same throughout Saskatchewan, but the fees they can charge per space are not the same across the province.

“But we are providing the same service and paying the same wages.”

The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on the federal government to investigate whether the provincial government’s changes to daycare funding violate Saskatchewan’s agreement under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program.

In a letter sent to federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu, Sask. NDP Leader Carla Beck and Early Learning and Child Care Critic Joan Pratchler requested an immediate review of Saskatchewan’s implementation of the child-care agreement following the introduction of new daycare fees and the elimination of funding support for part-time and casual daycare spaces.

“The federal government made a historic commitment to families when it promised affordable, accessible $10-a-day child care,” said Beck. “Parents embraced that promise because they believed governments were finally going to make life easier. Instead, Scott Moe is making child care more expensive and less accessible.”

Pratchler said the developments raise serious questions about whether Saskatchewan is meeting the affordability and accessibility objectives contained in the federal child-care agreement.

“The affordability pillar of the child-care agreement was never intended to reduce fees with one hand while allowing new mandatory charges to be imposed with the other,” Pratchler said. “When families are being forced to pay new enrolment fees, administration fees and monthly charges just to access child care, the affordability benefits of the agreement are clearly being undermined.”

Last month, Beck and Pratchler met with daycare operators in Prince Albert.

Response from the government

According to a statement from the Ministry of Education, to protect and sustain a strong Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) system, they are shifting from ‘rapid expansion to a focus on stabilization and sustainability for the operators and families.’

The examples provided included the implementation of the maximum monthly Parent Fee Reduction Grant to align with the number of children enrolled in a facility up to its total number of licensed spaces. The government has also committed to increasing grants to child care facilities with the lowest fees.

“All of these changes are a result of ongoing engagement with the child care providers through broad sector-wide committee meetings, best practices across the nation and individual discussions with the providers. We continue to openly engage and follow up with operators to answer questions and provide information specific to their operations,” they said.

The Ministry explained a federal funding shortfall remains an issue that Saskatchewan continues to discuss with the federal government. As a result of this ongoing work, on June 19, the federal government announced $5.4 billion in additional funding over two years for the ELCC system across Canada.

“It is too early to provide details on how much funding and how this funding will be used in Saskatchewan; however, what is clear from the federal government is that these dollars are intended to address existing pressures to maintain the current system, not to support further expansion or enhancements.”

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

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by Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff

Prince Albert daycare operators raise concerns over provincial funding changes

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