The P.A. Child Care Cooperative Association is celebrating 50 years in operation. (Submitted photo)

By Teena Monteleone

Child care

Child care provider celebrates 50 years while waitlists remain long

May 31, 2024 | 9:58 AM

A childcare business is about to celebrate 50 years of operation in the city.

The Prince Albert Child Care Co-operative Association started in 1974. It was previously known as Kiddies Kingdom. In 1983, land was donated by the city and general contracting was donated by Econo Lumber to construct the main centre they still operate out of today on 6^th St. East.

“In January of 2021, we acquired a second location. We took over operations of a childcare centre located inside King George school. Later that year, we took over operations of a centre located in St. Michael’s school, and just this year we opened our fourth location inside St. John’s school,” said executive director Jodene Demorest.

The co-operative is currently looking for space to open a fifth location that will offer another 50 childcare spaces to the 153 they currently have. When speaking to the success of the business, Demoret said it’s, in part, because they see childcare differently.

“We are here to teach. We are here to guide children and explore and engage. If we show them that learning is easy and fun, and then when they do get to school and they have to sit and do their A-B-C’s and 1, 2, 3’s it comes much more naturally and easily.”

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Most of the employees within the cooperative have their Early Childhood Educator certifications.

While 50 years of service is a big accomplishment for the Prince Albert Child Care Cooperative Association to celebrate, Demorest said there is still a long road ahead when it comes to child care services in the city and Saskatchewan.

“We have a waitlist that is over 600 people long,” she said. “The needs of childcare has changed because, to survive these days, households need to have dual incomes.”

Demorest said the demand also increased when childcare became more affordable. The creation of a national childcare system a few years ago aimed to cut childcare fees at licensed centres to an average of $10 per day across the country.

“Now childcare is affordable, but it’s still not accessible.”

The Early Learning and Child Care Agreement for Saskatchewan was announced in 2021 and estimated government investments would lead to the creation of 28,000 child care spaces by March 2026.

Demorest said its unlikely that goal will be reached any time soon.

“It’s just an unrealistic timeline to ensure that the educators are there and that buildings needed get built in a timely manner. So, all those things don’t line up that quickly. That’s why it’s not happening.”

According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, from April 1, 2021, to April 30, 2024, 9,462 spaces have been created and 5,357 of them are already operational.

“This represents a 54 per cent increase since signing the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement,” an email to the paNOW newsroom read.

Demorest said its progress, but not the progress that’s needed.

A 2023 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives examined the availability of child care spaces by postal code across the country and considered Prince Albert, and all of Saskatchewan, to be a child care desert, where there are at least three kids (not yet attending Kindergarten) in potential competition for each licensed space.

A screenshot from the CCPA child care desert map shows Prince Albert’s child care space availability. (CCPA)

The Prince Albert Child Care Co-operative Association will celebrate its fifty years of operations with a gala Friday night.

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Teena.Monteleone@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @princealbertNOW