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Some Saskatchewan childcare operators say $10-a-day daycare may not survive if the centres providing it are pushed too far into the red.
The warning came after a community meeting in Rocanville, where operators, parents and community members raised concerns about upcoming funding changes tied to Saskatchewan’s new federal childcare agreement.
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“We’re not just the loud ones, the squeaky wheel anymore. This is a bigger issue,” said Cara Werner, director of Dream Big Child Care in Rocanville and chair of Child Care Now Saskatchewan.
“Ours in particular, just from the changes to this deal, will be $66,000 for a year,” Werner said. “We have some that were projecting $100,000 loss next year. We had some that had $55,000 deficits.”
Werner said the impact would be felt across the province, especially in rural communities where families may not have other childcare options.
“These new changes that have come out from the ministry are going to have a devastating impact on these centres and homes,” she said. “The impact is going to be felt by families all over Saskatchewan.”
The province has said the changes are set to take effect July 1.
Education Minister Everett Hindley said Saskatchewan has been working with Ottawa since signing the new agreement and is trying to protect the childcare spaces already created in the province.
“We need to work really hard to maintain the 43,000 spaces that we already have in Saskatchewan,” Hindley said.
He said Saskatchewan is working within a limited pool of money and argued that more federal funding is needed to keep the system sustainable.
“There does need to be a more substantial amount of federal dollars coming into this program in order to maintain it going forward,” he said.
But Werner said operators have been asking for help for months and feel the province is only paying attention now because communities are mobilizing.
“We’ve been shouting it for the last 18 months that we need help and we need to fix this funding model, and nothing’s happened,” she said.
Werner also pushed back against suggestions that centres could raise fees to make up the shortfall.
“Now it’s not $10-a-day childcare,” she said. “It’s operating under the guise of a $10-a-day system.”
Werner said families could end up paying hundreds of dollars more a month through added costs.
“That’s just not fair, and that’s not in the spirit of the $10-a-day system that we’re trying to build,” she said.
Saskatchewan NDP MLA Joan Pratchler said the issue goes beyond daycare centres.
“If you don’t have childcare, you don’t have workers,” Pratchler said. “You don’t have workers, you don’t have mines operating, you don’t have hospitals operating, you don’t have teachers in schools. It just is a ripple effect.”
Hindley said ministry officials have held several engagement sessions with the sector and are continuing to meet with operators one-on-one.
“Our officials and the team have worked very hard to answer as many questions as they can during those engagement sessions,” he said.
He said each centre’s situation can be different and some questions are best handled directly with ministry staff.
Werner said the consultation process has been frustrating, noting that operators submitted questions in advance and often received scripted responses.
“Our deficit is not an opinion, it is a fact,” she said. “We can show you that on paper.”
Hindley said the province’s goal is to protect the system that has already been built while working within the terms of the agreement.
“We’re doing everything we can as provincial government to work within the parameters of not just the agreement itself, but the funding that’s coming from the federal government,” he said.
Werner said operators are not planning to stop pressing the province.
“We’re going to keep doing meetings, and we’re going to keep meeting with communities that are affected by this, and we’re going to make some noise,” she said. “Enough is enough.”
— with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick
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