Child care centre operators share concerns with $10-a-day-program

Saskatchewan is one of the first provinces to roll out $10-a-day child care with the new program experiencing some growing pains.

Child care centre operators came to the legislative building on Tuesday to raise their concerns that children attending part time may lose their spots.

“We’ve been told yes, we can still offer them part time and drop in care but we won’t be getting paid for it. We can just collect $10 a day from the parent,” said Brittany Pelletier, a child care centre operator in Saskatoon.

The government acknowledges that there could be some issues to work out.

“It’s the intent of moving to the $10 a day obviously is to achieve the goal of affordability but the intent is certainly not to see children left without a spot,” said Dustin Duncan, minister of education.

The NDP accuse the government of botching the program rollout.

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“The Sask. Party government has prioritized this announcement this week of $10-a-day daycare no doubt to get a win on the cost of living portfolio without having done their homework to make sure that this is successfully achieved,” said NDP MLA Meara Conway.

The majority of families that use licensed child care attend full-time and will benefit from the $10-a-day program.

The province will continue to talk to childcare providers and to the federal government to work out issues for those who need childcare on a part time basis.