'Less stress': More $10-a-day child care spaces opening in B.C

The prime minister was in Surrey Thursday, promising to help millennial moms by expanding child-care spaces and adding more $10-a-day spaces across the country.

That includes here in B.C., but critics say long daycare waitlists prove much more still needs to be done.

Justin Trudeau stopped by Alex House Children’s Centre in Surrey before unveiling a series of commitments to expand child-care programs.

“We know there’s more to do. That’s why we’re stepping up with a billion dollars worth of low-cost loans available to not-for-profit and public child-care providers to expand, to create more spaces,” Trudeau said.

The federal government is also promising student loan forgiveness for rural and remote early childhood educators and more training for those wanting to work in child care.

An additional 27 child-care centres in B.C. are joining the province’s $10-a-day child-care program, adding more than 930 affordable spaces for families.

The centres are making the transition this month and next.

North Vancouver mom Rory Richards said while she’s grateful some families will benefit, many others will not.

“Nine-hundred-and-thirty new spaces, $10-a-day spaces, seems actually quite low to me when you consider how many spaces are needed for each municipality. And most of those families are going to need $10-a-day,” she said.

Richards said she spent years on waitlists, trying to get her twin daughters into child care.

“I did get a call back from one child-care facility four years later,” she said, adding that by then, she’d given up and had hired a nanny instead.

She said she paid thousands of dollars in waitlist fees, a charge the province said will no longer be permitted at licensed child-care centres as of April 1.

“Waitlists are crazy," said Sharon Gregson, spokesperson for the Coalition of Childcare Advocates.

"In East Vancouver, (there is) a child-care provider with 400 spaces and 3,000 children on the waiting list. A child-care provider in Kamloops: 180 spaces and 800 children on the waitlist."

She said 75 per cent of children have no access to licensed daycare.

“(It's) great to see more child-care investments coming from the federal government," said Gregson. “That’s good, because we’re not seeing the province stepping up as much as we’d like.

But the provincial government said it’s supporting families with reduced child-care costs.

“On average, they’re saving $920 per child per month," said Mitzi Dean, B.C.'s minister of state for child care, at a news conference.

"That’s putting over $10,000 back in the pockets of families … throughout a whole year.”

With the new spaces, more than 15,300 children and their families across B.C. will be helped by the program, saving thousands of dollars annually, officials said.

“Together, we’re making sure families across the province get the quality child care they need without worrying about the cost,” said Trudeau in a news release.

"In addition to the $10-a-day program, we have increased the fee reductions, are eliminating waitlist fees and continue to offer additional support for families who need it most, all of which are important ways we are making life more affordable,” Dean said.

Average child care cost down from $54 to $19

Sarah Mara, a mother of one child in care, said the $10-a-day program has been a big help for her family.

“The $10-a-day savings have allowed us to plan for the future with less stress knowing that our child-care fees will not be increasing like all the other costs of living," Mara said in the news release.

Officials said British Columbia and the federal government have brought average daily cost of child care for children ages five and under in B.C. down to $19 from $54.

The province said it prioritized centres in communities that don’t already have $10-a-day spaces, or where there are very few child-care centres compared to the region’s population density.

“The federal government has committed an additional $47 million over three years through the Child-Care Infrastructure Fund,” the release reads.

“This new funding will support non-profit, public and/or Indigenous-led organizations to build or maintain child-care facilities, particularly in under-served communities, and is in addition to the existing ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund.”

The province said it’s on track to meet its next goal: opening up an additional 20,000 spaces for children by 2026.

Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze, said his organization has been asking for a national child-care program for many years.

“We’re delighted … Mr. Trudeau has actually implemented a plan to make sure child care never again costs another rent- or mortgage-sized payment,” Kershaw said.