'Let down': Alberta childcare operators frustrated by province's threat to withhold funding

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Frustration over the province’s handling of the childcare industry has some operators considering opting out of the $10-a-day childcare program, according to the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs (AACE).

After a tense town hall meeting on Monday left many childcare operators feeling “let down” several members voiced their concerns over the government’s ability to implement a $10-a-day childcare program that would preserve the quality and longevity of the industry.

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At the meeting the province announced their plans to send out a survey to operators to better understand the costs associated with running a childcare centre. Operators were told if they did not comply their affordability grant payments would be withheld.

Threat of having cuts

Krystal Churcher, chair of the AACE, said childcare operators have no issue providing financial documents if it will help benefit the program. Their concern is the threat of having cuts to their payments if they don’t comply with the survey demands. She questions why the province has not thought to do something sooner especially three years into the program.

“We can see from how this is rolled out nationally in three years that there’s very little understanding of what it takes to operate a viable high quality childcare centre from any level of government,” said Churcher.

“The feeling that it’s a mandatory survey with a threat of losing access to grants for parents in your centre didn’t sit well with operators.”

In November 2021, the province signed an agreement with the federal government to implement the $10-a-day childcare program by 2026. The five-year $3.8-million deal included lowering child care fees for Alberta parents, increase the number of childcare spaces, develop and fund child care options to support vulnerable populations and support licensing programs.

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The provincial and federal governments jointly announced in Jan. 31, 2023 that up to 22,500 additional for-profit childcare spaces may become eligible for funding supports over the next three years, for a total of 68,700 new licensed childcare spaces covered under the deal by the end of March 2026.

As of Jan.1, 2024 the province has reached an average fee of $15-a-day for licensed child care.

Long-term funding

In a statement to Postmedia, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade Matt Jones said the purpose of the survey is to gather information to build a long-term funding framework. He said the survey is “not intended to be a recurring requirement.”

“This survey… is also needed to support our government’s ongoing discussions with the federal government regarding Alberta’s unique early learning and child care system,” said Jones.

“This information will be utilized to calibrate funding to providers that is equitable and reflects the typical cost of operating child care spaces of different program types in diverse regions across the province. The survey is mandatory for those operators opting to participate in the Affordability Grant Program.

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“Only with provider feedback can our policies reflect and appropriately support providers.”

On top of feelings of unease and talks of operators pulling out of the $10-a-day program due to funding potentially being revoked — Churcher said right now access to a $10-a-day program is difficult with a two-year wait long list nationally. On top of that, staffing issues are contributing to the burden on the industry.

Churcher said it is really important to understand that the childcare industry is moving away from a system that has been traditionally parent funded and money would go directly to operators who could budget accordingly, hire staff as needed and are now moving towards a cost control framework.

The province will use the survey and data collected to determine what a regional average will be for rent and approved expenses like payroll for operators, according to Churcher. But her concern is a regional average is not a “true cost” and it will vary depending on a number of factors including rent and the ability to retain and recruit workers.

“A regional average is not a true cost, and what we have already seen in three years is very low, ill informed and outdated regional averages being used by our province to determine what people’s fees should be for childcare,” said Churcher.

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ctran@postmedia.com
X: @kccindytran

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