Daycare savings kick in for B.C. parents, but pressures on providers remain
While B.C. families are now seeing additional savings on child care due to funding that kicked in Thursday, advocates say a lack of staff and spaces may leave providers unable to meet a surge in demand.
Meagan Brame, who owns Saxe Point Daycare in Esquimalt, says some parents are saving an incredible amount of money, and paying considerably less than they would have a few years ago. For example, she says one family is paying just $30 a month for their child care.
"Between the fee reduction that the government has put in place for Dec. 1, as well as the affordable child care benefit -- they're paying quite a bit less," she explained.
The new federal and provincial program funding means some parents are saving up to an additional $550 per child. The amounts vary based on age and there are no income restrictions.
Chantelle Brunette, a parent in Victoria said the money was welcome, but wondered when the province will deliver on its promise of $10-a-day child care.
"I hope it will happen eventually, but it probably won't be while she's still in daycare," she said, motioning to her daughter.
Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen told CTV News about 20,000 families are currently paying that rate – which works out to less than one-sixth of the province's total spaces.
"We started our child-care plan in the 2018 budget, and it's a 10-year plan to bring universal affordable child care to the province," Chen said.
Brame pointed out cost is only one of the concerns in the child-care sector, pointing to a shortage of spaces and a quest to find staff she describes as "brutal."
Advocates are hopeful with child care now part of the education ministry workers will get better pay and benefits, increasing interest in working in the field.
While increasing affordability is a good thing, Brame says it's also increasing demand.
"What we're finding is a lot of parents that would have just done part-time or would have just stayed home for a little bit longer are now taking child care," she notes.
And as more families opt to enroll their kids in daycares, an already strained system could face even more pressure.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.