Niagara getting more daycare spaces
Parents of young children in Niagara could see a break on daycare costs and waiting lists.
The region has received $6.8 million from the provincial and federal governments to expand child care across all municipalities. The goal is that by the end of March 2018, there will be 460 new spaces added for children aged up to four years, said Darlene Edgar, director of children’s services for Niagara Region.
That includes 40 new spaces for babies. There is a high demand for infant spaces — ages zero to 18 months — and additional spaces will bring the total to 220, she said.
Those numbers represent fulltime spaces and could translate into many more children since kids often attend part time.
The new money brings the total funding for the year to $46 million.
Some of the funds will be directed to licensed daycares that are not operating at capacity. Many daycares in Niagara are licensed for more children than they actually serve, said Edgar. Some money will be given to those centres to hire more staff — registered early childhood educators — or to construct or renovate their buildings to allow for more children.
“They can open up the spaces that they’re licensed for,” said Edgar.
However, perhaps the biggest challenge will be to actually find available educators. “There’s a huge shortage of registered early childhood educators,” said Edgar. “There may be a challenge for centres to find staff to expand.”
There are about 175 licensed childcare centre sin Niagara, including some licensed home daycares (through the Niagara Region home care program or Wee Watch).
Waiting lists vary from centre to centre, but additional staff and space could help reduce the wait for care at some centres, Edgar said.
As well, the new funding will help to even out daycare fees across the region, she said.
“Child care is costly,” she said. Infants run about $75 per day, toddlers $55 and preschoolers $45. Fees typically go up every year. Money will be directed to daycares that have struggled to keep costs affordable.
“We’ll flow some dollars to service operators to assist them at holding their rates or reducing the amounts to make it more affordable to fullfee families,” she said.
The more likely scenario is that current fees would be held without increases, she added.
There will also be more money available to subsidize low-income families. The amount targeted will reflect the need, she said.
Currently, the Region subsidizes 2,500 families per month at licensed centres. There is no wait list. All the families who fit the criteria — roughly an annual income of $20,000 to $60,000 — receive a subsidy, she said.
She hopes through public education, more eligible families will come forward. The income cutoff is a rough estimate and other factors including number and age of children in the family figure in to determining eligibility. She encourages all families to use an online calculator on the region’s website.
The specifics of which daycare gets what is a work in progress. However, the money is meant to impact the whole region, she said.
She also hopes the improvements will be enough of an incentive to draw parents away from putting their children into unlicensed centres.
Centres that are licensed have checks and balances for safety and quality of care, she said. They are inspected every year by a Ministry of Education licensing officer, who completes a 32-page checklist that includes everything from child-tostaff ratios, curriculum, building security, menus and food safety. Licensed centres are also inspected by Niagara Region public health and fire departments.
“There are assurances of quality of services,” said Edgar.
However, parents are drawn into unlicensed care because it’s typically cheaper — some providers list their fees at $30 per day.
Unlicensed providers — all are in a person’s own home — are not required to be registered with the
Region so it’s not known how many exist in Niagara, she said. The only stipulation is that there cannot be more than five children in the home at one time, according to Ministry of Education standards, said Edgar.
She hopes the added funding will draw parents away from unlicensed homes by opening up licensed spaces closer to them and offering an assurance of affordable daycare costs, she said.
The province’s share of new funding to Niagara amounts to $4.3 million and the feds gave $2.5 million.
Provincially, the funding is part of a commitment to add 100,000 daycare spaces across Ontario over the next five years.
While Edgar is confident that funding will continue into the 201819 year, she does not yet know the amount that Niagara will receive. She expects that not only will it be able to maintain the added spaces, but grow some more, she said.
“It’s taking the first step to a more universal system,” she said. “More spaces that cost less. There will be more choices for parents.”