B.C. government claws back child-care benefits from family with newborn

A Vancouver couple who just had their second child want other parents to know about an unexpected financial burden they face due to provincial policies.

Lena Shillington and Ryan Sudds welcomed baby Susan to their family five weeks ago.

She joins big sister Grace, a three-year-old who currently goes to daycare thanks to a $500 monthly bump from the province through the Affordable Child Care Benefit.

"It was a consideration. We couldn't afford two kids in daycare at the same time,” Shillington said. “So, their age separation, there has been some thought into it."

But this week, the family got a call from the provincial government with some bad news.

Families with a parent on parental leave do not qualify for the Affordable Child Care Benefit.

Shillington and Sudds have to make a decision now.

At a time when their household income is already reduced by the leave, they can take on an additional $6,000 in debt over the next 12 months to keep sending Grace to daycare.

Or, they can pull the toddler from daycare and disrupt her routine at a key point in her early childhood development.

"I know there are families that are in even worse spots and it's going to hit them even harder,” Sudds said. “And so part of this is a warning. The government will take away your money when you have a new kid, for child care."

The Ministry of Education and Child Care declined to make Minister Rachna Singh or Minister of State for Child Care Grace Lore available for an interview.

Instead, the ministry sent an unsigned statement.

“ACCB is not available when a parent is taking parental leave, unless the parent has a medical condition that prevents them from being able to care for their children,” the statement said.

It did not answer CTV News questions about why that is the policy.

"It's either $6,000 in debt, or take our child out of daycare, which is something that she doesn't want to be taken out of,” Sudds said. “And it's a really bad moment to have that decision forced upon us while we've got a new child."

The couple says they’ll take on the additional debt to keep their toddler in daycare for now – but they wish the government wasn’t putting them in this position.