Thousands more parents will have access to subsidized daycare spaces in Alberta as the provincial and federal governments agreed to key elements in the next phase of the funding agreement.
Up to 1,600-plus spaces in private for-profit facilities will be eligible for funding “almost immediately,” according to Alberta’s Minister of Children Services Mickey Amery.
The new 2,000 spaces in private daycares are expected to qualify soon after licensing requirements are met, he said.
The news comes after months of complaints from private operators and parents. effectively shut out of affordable childcare programs.
Early in the federal-state agreement on childcare funding, there were limits on the number of private daycare spaces that could receive funding.
New or expanded space in commercial facilities since reaching its limits last spring unqualified The subsidy has cut the cost of daycare in half for many parents.
This came as a surprise to many parents and some operators who were in the process of setting up new or expanded day care facilities when the early stages of the program rolled out. online.
Robin Serrin is one of its parents. She runs a dance studio in Grand Her Prairie, over 450 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, and has her 18-month-old son.
“It was very difficult to find child care for him,” she said.
She started by placing her son in a day home and caring for one individual in a private residence, but ultimately wanted a more structured and trusting environment.
The only licensed child care center she could find was in the new wing of the Grande Prairie facility. She thought she was lucky to have a full-time space, but she was surprised to learn that the subsidy didn’t apply and she had to pay the full $1,100 a month. rice field.
“It certainly stung a little bit,” she said.
“A friend of mine has a son and daughter who actually go there and she got in at the subsidized stage, so she’ll pay less for both her son and daughter to go.” increase.”
“Cost Management Framework”
was in the early stages of childcare funding agreements Signed November 2021which is set to expire on April 1st.
The next stage rests on a ‘cost control framework’ as part of a larger ‘for-profit expansion plan’ that governs how childcare facilities use the public funds they receive.
The framework was originally scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2022, but has been postponed. The federal and state governments announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement on the document, and the states will work with day care providers to implement it.
The goal of the cost control framework is to “ensure the sound and rational use of these public funds,” said Federal Minister for Family, Children and Social Development Karina Gould.
“This framework will rationalize the costs and revenues of our childcare business and allow any surplus revenues to be directed towards improving childcare services across the state,” said Gould.
Crystal Churcher, who runs a daycare in Fort McMurray, about 435 kilometers northeast of Edmonton, and heads the Alberta Childcare Entrepreneur Association, said adding 1,600 subsidized spaces immediately is a “big step.” It is said that Ongoing demand for in-state childcare.
“I’m not sure we have enough space to fully meet these demands,” she said.
In total, federal and state agreements are expected to create 22,500 new ancillary spaces in private facilities by 2026.
The program’s goal is to bring childcare costs down to $10 per day by 2026.
From now on, Churcher said the devil will be in the details. Cost control frameworkthe document was just released on Tuesday afternoon, and operators have not yet had a chance to read the details.
“We would like to have some time to consider these considerations before we are asked to sign into something like this,” she said. Because I think we need to look.”
“living model”
State minister Amery said flexibility would be built into the cost control framework and terms would not be fixed.
“The framework is really a living model,” he said.
at sign on contract with Ottawa, Alberta has agreed to prioritize non-profit childcare spaces. As such, non-profit day care providers are not subject to the same restrictions on subsidized spaces. Additional grant to open up new spaces.
However, Amery said the province is committed to maintaining the role of private for-profit operators as part of Alberta’s childcare system.
“We want a system that welcomes and accepts their full participation,” he said.
“A strong parenting system will strengthen Alberta’s position as the destination of choice for families across the country. A place where you don’t have to.”
It’s a choice Seryn, a mother of one, keeps pondering, at least for now.
“We want more children, but at this rate we can’t pay $2,200 a month,” she said.
“I have to be a stay-at-home mom. It’s sad because I love what I do. But it doesn’t make sense to continue doing it without subsidies.”
