B.C. families face fewer financial barriers in finding child care after the province eliminated waitlist fees.
About five per cent of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 child care providers were charging families anywhere between $25 to $200 or more to put their names on a waitlist. But the province has prohibited this practice effective April 1.
Mitzi Dean, minister of state for child care, said child care is expensive enough without fees.
B次元官网网址淓liminating waitlist fees will mean that families no longer face having to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars simply to find a child care space,B次元官网网址� Dean said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e supporting families with the cost of child care, and now that starts when families are looking for a spot.B次元官网网址�
Parent Ger贸nimo Ratcliffe welcomed the end of waitlist fees. Because of financial limits, Ratcliffe said his family was unable to afford fees of $50 or higher across 20 to 30 different establishments. B次元官网网址淣ot having this barrier will definitely help us find a place for our second baby and compete for the spots, no matter our financial status,B次元官网网址� Ratcliffe said.
The elimination of waitlist fees comes as the provincial government faces pressure over the availability of $10-a-day child care.
Provincial New Democrats had promised universal $10-a-day child care within 10 years in 2017, then again in 2020, but the joint program with the federal governemnt is not close to meeting that goal. According to the Child Care Advocates of B.C., 14,000 B次元官网网址� or 10 per cent B次元官网网址� of all child care spaces are $10-a-day spaces and the group has been critical of the programB次元官网网址檚 pace.
B次元官网网址淲e are surprised government is not increasing provincial investments to more quickly expand the success of $10-a-day child care,B次元官网网址� Sharon Gregson, spokesperson for the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. B次元官网网址淓specially as government has acknowledged that child care progress to date has resulted in significantly more women in the workforce.B次元官网网址�
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B.C.B次元官网网址檚 contribution to the program in the 2024 budget is about $250 million, with the federal contribution just over $1 billion.
B次元官网网址淒espite the largest inflationary deficit in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 history, this NDP government has utterly failed to deliver on their signature election promise of universal $10-a-day child care,B次元官网网址� Karin Kirkpatrick, B.C. UnitedB次元官网网址檚 shadow minister for housing, child care, autism and accessibility, gender equity and inclusion said in late February. B次元官网网址淎ccess is getting worse, not better. Over 10,000 fewer children are in child care, with parents often facing a three-year nightmare wait-list.B次元官网网址�
Government has defended its record.
B次元官网网址淏.C. is actually a leader on child care,B次元官网网址� Katrine Conroy, finance minister, said in late February. B次元官网网址淲e brought the federal government to the table.B次元官网网址�
Conroy said more than 120,000 families are saving of up to $900 per month. B次元官网网址�(ThatB次元官网网址檚) a game-changer for families,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭housands of parents are paying $10 a day for child care. WeB次元官网网址檝e funded more than 34,000 new licensed care spaces, with more to come.B次元官网网址�
According to government, the average child care cost has dropped to $18 per day from $53 in 2017.
Child care has become more affordable, but also more difficult to find, according to a report from Statistics Canada report in early December.
These findings match the conclusions of a study by the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives.
It found almost two of three B.C. children not yet attending Kindergarten live in so-called child-care deserts: postal codes with more than three children below school age for every full-time licensed child-care space.
