YORKTON — A Yorkton child-care provider says Saskatchewan's July 1 changes to the province's $10-a-day child-care program are cutting deeply into her income and could make it harder for families seeking part-time or flexible care to find spaces.
Joanna Reaney, a licensed group family child-care operator in Yorkton, says the changes threaten the viability of home-based child care and leave some providers questioning their future in the sector.
"I'm 50 years old. How do I start over?" Reaney said at a news conference alongside NDP Early Learning and Child-Care Shadow Minister Joan Pratchler. "This is the career I wanted."
Reaney said new rules tied to federal-provincial child-care funding limit the number of subsidized spaces providers can claim and eliminate funding that previously helped support part-time and casual care arrangements.
Reaney, who has worked in the sector for about 30 years and holds an Early Childhood Education Level 3 designation, said she can care for up to 12 children with an assistant, though only 10 spaces are eligible under the $10-a-day program.
Before the changes, she said, providers could serve a larger roster of children on a rotating basis, provided they did not exceed their licensed capacity on any given day. That allowed operators to accommodate families needing part-time or irregular care, including shift workers and kindergarten students.
Under the new rules, Reaney said providers are effectively limited to the number of funded spaces they hold.
"Theoretically, I could have 20 kids on my list as long as I didn't go over 10 kids in my house at a time," she said. "Now they're saying, 'Nope, only 10 spaces.'"
Reaney said the change disproportionately affects families who do not require full-time care, including nurses, RCMP members, mine workers and parents working variable shifts.
She estimates that after paying wages and operating expenses, her earnings have dropped to about $15.87 an hour. Saskatchewan's minimum wage is set to rise to $15.70 an hour in October.
"I have 30 years of child-care experience. I have an ECE Level 3 … and I'm making $15.87 an hour," she said.
Pratchler accused the Saskatchewan Party government of creating financial pressures for licensed providers by freezing fees when the federal child-care agreement was introduced and then removing funding supports that helped offset rising costs.
She said providers who joined the program as "legacy" operators were required to freeze parent fees in exchange for participating in the $10-a-day system.
"Things have changed since 2021," Pratchler said. "Inflation has gone way more than the increases they've received."
The NDP MLA said the July 1 changes remove funding that had helped providers accommodate part-time and casual spaces, leaving some operators struggling to cover expenses.
"The government knew this was happening and they did it anyway," she said.
Pratchler also argued the changes could worsen existing child-care shortages, particularly in smaller communities.
"If she goes under, there's 10 families affected," Pratchler said of Reaney's operation. "There's not enough spaces."
The Opposition has also raised concerns about the availability of child-care spaces across Saskatchewan, arguing provincial figures combine operational spaces with spaces approved for future development.
Pratchler said she has repeatedly asked the government to distinguish between spaces that are currently operating and those allocated for future projects.
"We're getting calls every day because people need help with child care," she said. "So where are those spaces?"
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education said the province is shifting its focus from rapid expansion of child-care spaces to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the early learning and child-care system.
"To protect and sustain a strong Early Learning and Child Care system, we are shifting from rapid expansion to a focus on stabilization and sustainability for operators and families," the ministry said.
The ministry said Saskatchewan has added thousands of child-care spaces since 2021 and, as of May 31, 2026, had achieved 93 per cent of its overall space-creation target under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement.
According to the ministry, Yorkton is served by nine licensed child-care homes with 89 spaces and six licensed child-care centres with 240 spaces, for a total of 329 licensed and operational child-care spaces. An additional 90 spaces are in development.
The ministry said the combined total of operational and developing spaces represents an increase of about 39 per cent since 2021.
"The provincial changes which took effect July 1 are a result of ongoing engagement with child-care providers through broad sector-wide committee meetings, best practices across the nation and individual discussions with providers," the ministry said. "We continue to openly engage and follow up with operators to answer questions and provide information specific to their operations."
However, Reaney said she remains concerned about the impact on families needing occasional care.
"I've had instances with a single mom with a newborn who just needs a break a couple days a week," she said. "Where do those parents go?"
The Saskatchewan government has said its goal is to expand access to affordable child care through the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement while prioritizing the creation of regulated spaces.
Pratchler said providers have been asking the province to revisit the funding model and consult more closely with the sector.
"It's the same story everywhere," she said. "Care providers are suffering, children are suffering and communities are suffering because they're losing workers."
