‘It is much more stressful than I had imagined’
Atlantic Canadian mothers on daycare crisis
Maternity leave is meant to be an enriching time to focus on your newborn — but that’s not quite as easy when the daycare crisis is looming. For many new parents, the fear of not finding childcare is a very real one — and it starts as soon as the pregnancy test is positive.
Ashleigh Plourde started the process as soon as she found out she was pregnant with her second child, her now one-month-old daughter.
“My one-month-old is currently home with me while I’m on maternity leave, but as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I sent the same email to everyone on the government list. She’s on every waitlist possible,” said the 30-year-old from Dieppe, N.B. “Once she was born, I repeated the process in hopes of getting more responses, as well as to update her information and required start date. When she’s six months old, I plan to call anyone who didn’t respond to the email.
“When she’s 10 months old, as a last resource, I will post on and contact people from the ‘Moncton daycare and childcare care providers’ Facebook group, as many home daycares, both licensed and unlicensed, participate in that group and often offer spots.”
Plourde and her fiancé also have a three-year-old son who has a spot in daycare. Despite Plourde being on maternity leave, they have to continue paying for daycare.
“Currently, we don’t necessarily need childcare as I’m home, but we couldn’t take my son out of daycare as he would lose his spot. Then we risk not getting him back in on time for me to return to work,” said Plourde.
Plourde was able to access a daycare subsidy for her son until recently, now she will be facing a hefty price when her maternity leave ends.
“I’ve also come to realize that the cost of both our children in daycare is going to cost us $780 a month, which is just over a quarter of my monthly income. With the increased cost of everyday life, that’s going to leave us living cheque to cheque,” she said. “We definitely don’t mind paying for daycare, but our child tax benefit covers daycare and after the added
“I’ve also come to realize that the cost of both our children in daycare is going to cost us $780 a month, which is just over a quarter of my monthly income.”
Ashleigh Plourde
expenses since having our latest child and with inflation, we will have less than $100 extra a month after the necessities such as bills, food, and gas.”
Plourde suggests that the government reassess the limits for subsidies, since even those working above minimum wage are struggling to get by.
“We both work full time, above minimum wage, we shouldn’t be living cheque to cheque. So, either subsidy access needs to be raised or daycare costs need to be lowered to accommodate working families,” she said. “I know they were supposed to implement the $10-a-day fee, as well as create a couple thousand more spots, but when? And why isn’t there temporary help for those who need it?”
Courtney Crowell’s son has just turned one, marking the end of her initial maternity leave. She has had to extend her leave by six months — unpaid.
“I applied and got onto seven waitlists when I was three months pregnant, so about 19 months ago. Not a single spot can confirm a time that daycare will be available,” said the 30- year-old from Dartmouth, N.S. “I feel guilty not going back to work as my job expected me to be back this month and now have to wait an additional six months. My current fear is if daycare is still unavailable after the six months.
“With the cost of living, money is very tight with only one income. It is much more stressful than I had imagined.”
Crowell had never imagined that it would be so competitive, either.
“One daycare let me know that children are still on the waitlist from 2021 ... which makes no sense for my situation as my son would require the infant room which is 18 months and under and if a child applied in 2021 they would be well over the infant age,” she said. “There are Facebook groups for parents looking for daycare or day homes. When a new post is created saying someone has a spot available, at least 15 people ask to be considered for the spot.
“It feels horrible to feel like you’re in competition to get your infant or toddler into any kind of care.”
Vicki Hardy knew that being a parent involved sacrifice, but she hadn’t expected having to give up her career.
The 30-year-old from Kinkora, P.E.I., was unable to find childcare across the Island for her 20-monthold twins.
“I now have no choice but to be completely unemployed as I am currently pregnant with my third child and there is absolutely no way I can obtain enough hours to receive maternity benefits before the new baby arrives in May,” she said. “Currently, I care for our children full time while my husband works full time. We registered both children with several different daycare centres, ranging from Summerside all the way to Charlottetown since in conception without avail. We contacted our MLA and were essentially given no response after explaining how I had to give up my career that I’ve worked so hard for for over 10 years.”
The process has not been an easy one, by any means.
“It has been an absolute stressinducing nightmare trying to find answers, solutions and space for our twin boys. Because we couldn’t find childcare by the time I was supposed to work, I had to give up my career and income,” said Hardy. “It’s impossible to meet the standards of 600 hours for maternity benefits by the time our new baby will be here without fulltime care for our boys.”