When Nova Scotia signed on to the federal government’s $ 10-a-day child care plan, it was touted as something that would make daycare more affordable and accessible, but some operators say it’s having the opposite effect.
“We have 23 families in our community who need spaces in the next 12 months,” said Joe Kinsman, co-owner of Becky’s Daycare in Waverely.
“They have all made a commitment to come here and unfortunately we had to tell them that we don’t have room for them.”
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Over the summer, Kinsman says her nursery underwent renovations to transform two rooms previously used for toddlers so she could expand her children’s program into eight spaces.
“We are constantly being called by new and prospective parents looking for baby spaces, and many daycare centers don’t offer baby spaces,” Kinsman said.
He says their licensing officer had previously encouraged them to focus more on younger age groups as well.
“I think it’s a department-wide suggestion to focus on the younger ages, where all four-year-olds are now in kindergarten,” Kinsman said.
“We informed our program consultant in May that we were planning to do this and for all intents and purposes we had his go-ahead to do so.”
In September, the nursery had everything ready and formally submitted its application. A month later, in early October, they received the news that they had been denied.
Early Childhood Education and Development Minister Becky Druhan said she could not speak about specific cases, but that in October the government implemented a pause in granting new licenses or license changes for for-profit day care centers.
“What we’re doing is preparing and taking the first steps toward universal child care – Canada’s Comprehensive Child Care Agreement – so that’s part of that work,” he said.
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The minister also said she was not aware of any department-led processes that are in the planning stages and that licensing is taken seriously.
“Licenses are not issued until the work is completed, and they are not done verbally, they are not done informally, there is a very specific process.”
According to Kinsman, his request was denied on October 7, a week before the province formally announced the hiatus.
“We let them know in May what we were doing … we were ready to submit our documentation for approval (in) early September,” Kinsman said.
“We requested this before they officially announced that there was a freeze on all private daycare spaces.”
Families that were left without child care spaces
Twenty-three families had signed up to take advantage of the eight new spaces that were supposed to be created over the next 12 months. When their license was denied, Kinsman staff had to inform those families that there were no places for them.
Lucas Nobre and his wife had registered their 10-month-old son who was supposed to start in October, and now the family says they are in a difficult situation with maternity leave almost over.
“As of November, she is on leave without pay until we can secure a place for her and she can go back to work,” said Nobre. “It’s quite stressful.”
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The couple say childcare is difficult to find, especially in a place where parents feel comfortable leaving their child. They had that with Becky’s, but they say they are starting over now and most of the spots are booked.
“The only (open spaces) we could find, (are for) the end of April, the beginning of the summer, the end of the spring. That’s all we can find so far. “
When asked about the challenges in finding spaces, Druhan says there are enough child care spaces in the province.
“If people have concerns, we will work with every family that needs placement,” said the minister. “We can offer options for people looking for child care.”
Nobre says he already tried.
“We send emails and we call. So far, nothing, ”he said.
Nonprofit transition is not feasible for all daycare operators
In a notification sent to child care operators in October, the province says that as part of the Canada-wide Early Learning Child Care Agreement that was signed in July, Nova Scotia will prioritize the creation and operation of new spaces in the non-profit, publicly funded child care sector.
Kinsman says that when their application was denied, they were told that the only way to approve it was to switch to a nonprofit model, something that, according to him, is simply not feasible.
“The main reason is that we have a two-year loan in the bank for a significant amount of money that we cannot pretend that it no longer exists,” Kinsman said.
“This is our livelihood, this is our retirement, and this is our business.”
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Kinsman and his wife bought the daycare in 2019, long before the federal government introduced its plan to provide a $ 10-a-day daycare. Since the announcement was made in July, Kinsman says there has been a lot of confusion.
“The agreement has very little framework and very little structure, essentially it is left in the hands of the provinces,” he said.
Kinsman says they have reached out to the prime minister and the early childhood development officer to discuss their concerns with them, but says they have not received a response.
“It’s beyond frustrating that no one with the ability to make an exception or make a change is willing to talk to us about it.”
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