Funding gives child care a boost

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This article was published 28/06/2022 (1376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial and federal governments made another addition to the Canada-Manitoba Child Care Agreement on Monday, promising funds to improve wages and create thousands of new daycare spaces.

At a press conference held at a YMCA daycare in Winnipeg, it was announced that both levels of government are committing $34.7 million to child-care centres’ existing operating grants to improve wage equity for staff who look after kids aged seven and younger and $2.3 million to promote the same thing for workers who deal with school-aged kids.

Additionally, the governments are spending $8.1 million to created 3,100 new spaces for early learning and child care at 177 different facilities in Manitoba. Of that funding, $4.8 million is for kids aged seven to 12 and $3.3 million is for children aged younger that seven.

“Access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity,” federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould said during the announcement. “For the many advocates who have been advocating for affordable child care for decades … it is truly the realization of this dream.”

As a working mother, Gould said it was important for her to know her son is in caring hands. She also said that she has experienced the struggle of waiting to find a vacancy at a child-care facility.

“Investing in child care also helps workers in the sector,” said provincial Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko. “We ensure a stable system for children and families, help address labour market shortage and help workers live a better quality of life.”

In Westman, executive directors at two child-care centres told the Sun that the funding is welcome, but won’t be enough to stem the loss of workers from the sector.

At Children’s Den Inc. in Brandon, Lorraine McConnell said that despite previous announcements boosting the number of subsidized child-care spaces, she hasn’t been able to increase capacity at her daycare.

“I can’t hire more early childhood educators,” she said. “You’re opening more spaces when I can’t fill my spaces because I don’t have trained staff. I know some centres have been thinking of reducing the number of children they’re caring for because they’re losing staff far sooner than they’re being recruited.”

Earlier this month, McConnell said she had to close her centre for a day because with staff departures and others getting sick with COVID, there weren’t enough workers to take care of their charges. She has also had to consider asking parents to volunteer to consider alternative arrangements on days with low staffing.

She said she doesn’t want to appear ungrateful, but she’d like higher levels of government to develop and communicate their intentions so she can develop a plan. McConnell was grateful on Monday that information on the new programs were sent out to centres like hers shortly after the announcement was made.

“It’s great news and with the vague numbers they gave us, I’m hoping those will really be a significant jump for our staff,” said Jen Cullen of Wawanesa Wee Care in Wawanesa. “Unfortunately, for myself, the timing isn’t great. I just had a really great staff give her notice to go work somewhere for more money. It’s a little late for that.”

Like McConnell, Cullen is glad the government is trying to fill a need by creating child-care spaces, but believes it’s hard to implement when the whole sector is “starving” for staff.

With one staff member gone and another potentially leaving, Cullen said she may have to reduce the number of spaces she’s able to provide.

Both Cullen and McConnell said that when staff leave their positions at their child-care centres, they’re leaving the sector entirely to find other careers.

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