WELLINGTON COUNTY - Many Canadian parents are feeling ecstatic with the new federal and provincial child care deal. However, many rural families living in Wellington County, where childcare resources are lacking, are wondering what this new deal means for them.
“I put my two kids into the wait list for Wellington County’s daycare services. Unfortunately, they didn’t get in, so we had to find an unlicensed care provider in the area,” said Fergus resident, Tara Darroch, one of many who have had difficulty finding daycare.
“Throughout this time, we’ve kept trying to get into the centre-based daycare, and eventually they got in. However, the county’s prices would have been $600 more than what we’ve been paying for with our unlicensed provider. So, we declined the offer and stuck with our provider.”
Darroch noted when she and her husband heard about this deal, they were happy and would have really helped them with finances. However, when they found out the deal only applies to those who are in a licensed daycare provider, all their joy was instantly replaced with disappointment and helplessness.
“The kids are still on a waitlist for the county’s centre-based daycare; he’s the 30th kid in line. There’s only three licensed homes in Centre Wellington and all of them have really long waiting lists, so really, it looks like we’re not going to benefit from this,” she said.
Similarly, Emily Schumacher, a Mapleton resident, had no choice but to settle for an unlicensed child care provider due to the lack of childcare resources in Mapleton and the county.
“We couldn’t go with the nearest licensed provider because it was half an hour the opposite way from our home, plus, it was too expensive for us. We finally landed on an unlicensed care provider for my son, but even looking for that was difficult,” said Schumacher in a phone interview.
The Township of Mapleton is one of the county’s municipalities to not have any licensed child care centres, despite the growing number of children living within the township. The Township of Puslinch also does not have a licensed child care centre.
Due to this, many families rely on unlicensed home-based childcare providers to take care of their children.
According to Statistics Canada, Ontario has roughly 10,937 unlicensed home-based child care businesses–the most in any Canadian province and territories. In total, Canada has 28,250 unlicensed home-based businesses.
“I’ve been in this business for 24 years and I’ve seen a growing number of need for a childcare centre in Mapleton year after year because of the population growth. Unfortunately, we still don’t have one,” said Robyn Runstedler, a Drayton resident and unlicensed child care home-based provider.
“I mean, because of this, there are many unlicensed providers in our area due to the lack of spaces in our township. I have people contacting me asking if I have any more space, but I have to turn them down because of the five children limit under the Child Care Act. We’re all wondering what this new deal means for us, the children we care for and their parents.”
Currently, the county has six licensed child care home providers. Centre Wellington has three licensed home providers, Wellington North has two, and Minto has one.
Meanwhile, there’s 19 Wellington County-operated licensed child care centres within the county, and Guelph has 35. Wellington North has full day, full-time spaces, but can only accommodate 9.4 per cent of the children ages zero to four population, and Centre Wellington only has spaces for 16 per cent of the birth to four population.
“Licensed child care operators must indicate if they opt in or out of the Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement. The new deal is offered through licensed child care operators who opt in only,” said Luisa Artuso, county’s director of children’s early years division, in an email.
“The county, as the consolidated municipal service manager for child care, will receive the federal funds from the Ministry of Education and will enroll participating licensed child care in the new program beginning April 2022. The Ontario child care tax credit remains available for families who do not qualify.”
