REGINA — Child-care operators in Saskatchewan are making one last call for the government to stop proposed changes to the child-care funding model due to take effect on July 1, Canada Day.
At a news conference at the legislature, the NDP’s child-care critic Joan Pratchler stood alongside child-care providers to call for Education Minister Everett Hindley to stop changes associated with the new agreement with the federal government to extend $10-a-day child care. They claim the new funding arrangement taking effect that day would cut off funding for casual or part-time spaces.
“This government needs to stop,” Pratchler said.
“It needs to listen, and it needs to get this right. They need to consult directly with childcare providers, parents and frontline workers. They need to hear from the people who understand this system best, who will be most affected by these changes. And they need to develop a funding model, an equitable funding model that protects flexible childcare spaces while ensuring childcare centres remain financially sustainable.”
One issue that has popped up is word that child-care providers are having to impose fees due to the shortfall. Pratchler pointed to a letter from the YWCA advising parents about “the fee increases that they're going to need to make up that funding loss,” she said.
Cara Werner, chair of Childcare Now Saskatchewan and director of Dream Big Childcare in Rocanville, raised concerns about fees being added on.
“The truth is the fees that they're laying out, it's no longer $10-a-day childcare,” said Werner. “With the addition of these fees, it means the death of $10-a-day childcare.”
Werner said this is going to be felt across the province, and that they are already hearing from providers who say they are struggling.
“They've been struggling with the current funding model that's in place because it's not adequate to serve their purposes, and they're also going to be struggling with losing casual families. It's so frustrating as a provider to have to tell your families that they might no longer have spaces. It's also very frustrating and heartbreaking to have to tell them that they're going to have to pay fees that they might not be able to afford.”
Werner also demanded a halt to the July 1 changes, saying the government needs to “look at the current funding model because it is not working.”
The government has pushed back against the notion that children enrolled as casual or part-time attendees will not be funded. In speaking to SaskToday in early June, Assistant Deputy Minister Sameema Haque had said the government is “not discontinuing casual and part-time — the operators can continue to serve casual and part-time children in their spaces.”
“What we are saying is in order to have long-term sustainability, and extend the affordability to as many families as possible across Saskatchewan, what we are not going to be doing is giving duplicate grants for those same spaces."
Werner explained to reporters that they will no longer be able to receive fees from the government beyond their maximum licensed spaces.
“So the only compensation we will get is the $10 a day that is provided by the parents. So on a 10-hour day, that's $1 an hour. So I don't know anybody that could maintain a business at $1 an hour, making $1 an hour. Not feasible.”
Werner said anyone above their licensed spaces will no longer receive funding from the province. “So that's not the same fee for same service that the ministry has told us is the model since day one.”
Hindley response
What the provincial government has acknowledged from the get-go has been concerns about the sustainability of the $10-a-day child-care program. In Saskatoon on Friday, Hindley was asked about the concerns raised by child-care providers about the funding allocation as of July 1.
“We're not changing anything with respect to July 1st,” said Hindley. “The changes (that were) announced in late April were meant to create additional long-term sustainability in this program … we're proceeding with the changes that are taking effect and going to be implemented on July 1. We did mention that we're making some changes to the funding of those spaces. We're looking at the expenses that an operator has. Those don't change, regardless of how many children are in that particular space. We're going to continue with those changes that we're implementing on July 1st. However, as we get details of how much, how many more additional dollars are coming in towards Saskatchewan, then we'll be able to take a look at the long-term sustainability of the program.”
The looming July 1 changes come soon after the federal government made an announcement on June 19, in which it said it would commit $5.4 billion to address pressures provinces and territories were facing in implementing the $10-a-day child-care program in place.
Hindley had little to add when asked by reporters about the federal announcement. When asked if there were any gaps that could be filled by the new federal funding, he said “we're hopeful.”
“That was one of the things, and myself and my colleagues across the nation, the federal and certain provincial and territorial ministries responsible for child care, we were advocating for the federal government for some time to say that this program needs a significant injection of federal dollars to keep it sustainable in the long term. That was one of our biggest worries … We'll see what that money actually means for Saskatchewan. We'll have an opportunity to comment on that over time.”
In a statement Monday, the province said it appreciated that the federal government is “recognizing the pressures all provinces have been raising about the sustainability of the child care system by providing additional, short-term funding.”
“The federal government has indicated that Saskatchewan is expected to receive this funding over the next two years and it will need to be added to the existing agreement and negotiated into the action plan. The funds will also include annual adjustments based on updated population estimates to be released by Statistics Canada in the fall of each year.”
They added it is too early to provide details on how much funding Saskatchewan will receive and how this funding will be used in Saskatchewan.
However, “what is clear from the federal government is that these dollars are intended to address existing pressures to maintain the current system, not to support further expansion or enhancements. The July 1 changes were designed to stabilize, protect, and sustain the child care system in the province, so this temporary federal funding does not eliminate the need for these changes.”
In response to the statement, Pratchler said to reporters Tuesday that “the minister is the one who's in charge of policy decisions. I'm sure he'll be quite able to figure this out, won't he?”
“Because the federal government has said, use this to enhance what you're doing in your province. Well, enhance it. And they did say that that money was going to be flexible, so that they could use it in a way that they needed to. So they could roll back these changes. They're the minister. They're in charge.”
– With files from Jon Perez
