Nanaimo parents could be paying more for day care starting in July.
The federal government has chosen to give money to parents directly under the Universal Child Care Benefit rather than continuing to give extra funds to licensed day cares.
Day cares receive the last of the Early Learning and Child Care funds from the federal government in March, and faced with a loss of $455 million in federal funds over the next three years, the B.C. government has chosen to revert provincial operating funds for day cares back to 2005 levels July 1.
“It’s going to be a big chunk,” said Ruth Shaw, executive director of the non-profit Enchanted Woodland Childcare Centre.
Shaw said the centre will lose out on $4 a day for every infant and toddler, and $2 a day per child three years of age to kindergarten. This equals a $40 a month loss per child aged 3 to 5 and twice that amount for younger ones.
“We’re looking at what can we do? Do you raise fees?” asked Shaw. “I’m going to have to deal with some very upset, angry parents.”
The UCCB pays $100 a month to parents of preschool children – what Shaw terms “a drop in the bucket” in terms of how much day care costs per month.
While Nanaimo day cares already have long wait lists, the loss of the extra operating funds will not help create more badly-needed spaces.
“I must get five to seven phone calls every day looking for spots,” she said.
Sharon Larkins, owner of Tender Beginnings Child Care Centre in Nanaimo, said she doesn’t think families in Nanaimo can afford an increase in day care costs, so it will be her staff levels that suffer.
“We won’t have the time to be able to have as much one-on-one time with the children.”
She agreed with Shaw that creating new day care spaces will be difficult because the province also put a cap on the subsidy program to build and fund new centres, so no new businesses can access the funds.
“I think we need to advocate strongly to the government of the importance of child care,” she said.
Karen Murry, spokeswoman for the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development, said the ministry chose to revert the childcare operating funds back to 2005 levels because the federal government axed the ELCC.
She said the provincial government chose to focus instead on maintaining the increase in the threshold of families who qualify for daycare subsidies from $21,000 to $38,000 a year.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com