I love having a daycare, but the government’s $10 a day plan is threatening my business – Macleans.ca

My mother founded Riverbend Daycare in Calgary in 1987 and I began working there shortly after it opened. I was 18 and quickly learned that babysitting is not a typical nine-to-five job: you become part of families’ lives. Over the years, I have learned their stories, shared their struggles, and celebrated their milestones. From time to time, my mother and I even opened our homes to take in children when their parents had family emergencies, and we offered advice and companionship to other families.

In early 2021, my mother, who was in her 70s, stepped away from the business and handed the reins to me. But because our lease was up and the landlord didn’t offer a renewal, we had to close Riverbend. By then, I had been working in a daycare for 33 years and for me it was not just a business. It was a way of life. So while many parents were keeping their kids at home in those early days of the pandemic, I invested roughly $500,000 (a combination of my life savings, support from my mother, and a couple of loans) to open a new daycare nearby. from where Riverbend had been. . I called it the Tree of Imagination.

I designed the Imagination Tree to provide play-based services, including a music program and an emotional agility coach, as well as a full menu of healthy foods for children. Depending on the age of the child, my rates ranged from $575 to $1,200 per month, which is approximately $29 to $60 per day. The day I opened my doors in June 2021, I was excited and proud, but also nervous. Caring for children is a humbling responsibility, and for the first time, that burden fell squarely on me.

I couldn’t anticipate the challenges that awaited me. In November 2021, Alberta and the federal government reached a $3.8 billion deal aimed at reducing child care costs for parents to an average of $10 a day by 2026. Under the deal, families would receive expanded child care subsidies. children depending on their income. And daycare operators had to reduce their rates by 50 percent in 2022, with the plan to reach $15 per day per child by the 2023-2024 school year. To ensure viability, the government promised to provide operators with recurring subsidies that would help cover overhead and staff costs. Operators would receive fixed amounts of funding per child, depending on the age of the child and the type of care they would receive. For example, we would receive up to $626 per month per child for full-time care of a preschool-age child.

I supported making daycare more affordable, but this new system posed challenges for operators. After we reduced our rates, it took 40 to 45 days for the province to reimburse us for the promised subsidies. While we waited, we were forced to shoulder considerable debt and interest. At one point, I regularly had nearly $100,000 in monthly debt for bills like rent, payroll and insurance, as well as food and equipment expenses. Instead of spending time with the kids (which is my favorite part of the job), I was stuck in my office for hours on end, struggling to balance the books while waiting for government funds to arrive.

The problems did not end there. Like most businesses, daycare operators have battled skyrocketing inflation since the pandemic began. The province gives operators some additional funds to compensate for this, but it is not enough. Last year, my costs for things like rent and insurance shot up 18 percent, but I only got financing equal to a three percent increase. This year, the province raised funds to cover six per cent inflation, which is still not enough. I am left with a huge disparity between what I receive from the government and what it really costs to run my center.

Although the government’s promise to provide affordable, quality child care for $10 a day sounds attractive, it is not realistic. The $30 billion promised by the federal government is simply not enough for the entire country. Nowadays, you’d be lucky to get a donut and a coffee for $10, but for that same price, daycare operators are expected to provide a quality program to educate and care for your child. What would $10 a day childcare realistically look like? The sacrifices loom large, whether they involve cuts to food, art or music programs, or mass layoffs of educators, which means fewer and fewer people caring for more and more children.

I haven’t been forced to remove any programs yet, but I am handcuffed by the limitations of the agreement, which is heartbreaking. At my mother’s daycare, we have always prided ourselves on being inclusive, but I regularly have to turn away children with special needs because I can’t afford the additional staff costs they require. I work 13 hours a day and haven’t paid myself a salary since I opened the daycare three years ago. It has been exhausting and stressful. If I didn’t love families and children, I would have closed the business a long time ago and started another type of business.

I couldn’t have maintained daycare without the support of my family. My mother is now 77 years old, but she still helps by coming every day and cooking for the 96 children we serve. My two adult children work for me full time, helping me with things like shopping and transporting the kids. At the end of each day, they clean the center to save on cleaning costs. Some of the children I babysat in the 1990s and early 2000s even began bringing their own children to the Imagination Tree. I value being a continuous presence in the lives of these families, but I cannot sustain myself with passion alone.

Currently, Imagination Tree has a wait list of 100 families, and many other Alberta daycares also have long wait lists; Demand is so high that, under normal circumstances, a second center would have opened. But with this agreement no one opens new centers. It doesn’t make financial sense to invest in a business that won’t give you a return on your investment. The resulting lack of supply to meet growing demand will inevitably make childcare less affordable, which is the complete opposite of the government’s goal. In the end, families and children indirectly pay the price for the promise of $10 a day, a promise that doesn’t mean much to families if they are stuck on waiting lists for years.

I am a member of the Alberta Child Care Business Owners Association and we are lobbying the government to review their agreement. We need a financing model in which families receive subsidies directly, so that operators can charge adequate rates that cover our expenses. Such an approach would promote healthy competition, as well as eliminate administrative burdens and wait times for refunds for operators. It would also give families the freedom to select child care that fits their preferences and budgets.

Meanwhile, we have already seen positive results from collective action. In January, I participated in a series of gradual daycare closures to put pressure on the government. They are finally listening to us. From March 1, have promised to provide us with approximately 80 percent of our grant at the beginning of each month, meaning we no longer have to wait more than six weeks for most of our refunds. That gives me some breathing room to pay the most urgent bills. But while this is a step in the right direction, it does not address the broader issue of inadequate funding. At a minimum, the next thing we need is the ability to increase our rates to match inflation.

I am constantly stressed because my family’s legacy, which I have helped build for more than three decades, is in danger. I have invested all my life savings in my center. I have shed blood, sweat and tears. And yet, that may not last long enough for me to pass it on to my children. The near-term future is equally bleak for many traders in similar positions.

But it’s not just about daycare operators. It’s about all of us. Child care helps shape the future: Our governments’ promise of $10 a day should not come at the cost of a nurturing, nurturing environment for millions of children. That’s why I implore the province to recognize the challenges operators face and work with us to achieve a sustainable agreement. The fate of child care in Alberta hangs in the balance.