Nelson’s Silver King Childcare Centre is one of 27 childcare facilities across the province now able to offer the $10-a-day childcare program.
The Silver King Childcare Centre opened in September 2021. A total of 24 childcare spots are available through the Centre, 16 of which are allocated for infants and toddlers, and 8 accommodate 3-5-year-olds.
All 24 of the center’s childcare spots were converted to the $10-a-day program on Mar. 1 of this year.
Hayley Ratcliffe, Director of the Silver King Childcare Centre, said that while the expansion of the $10-a-day program to Nelson helps address affordability issues, it doesn’t address the local shortage of childcare programs.
In January, Ratcliffe had to shut down the waitlist option at the Centre because of slow turnover that has left some people on the list since the facility opened in 2021.
“Lots of the people on the waitlist, their children were aging out of our program, or they were finding care in other places because they would have to wait on our waitlist for so long. I found that the waitlist wasn’t serving the community as it should. So we decided that as of Jun. 1, we won’t have a waitlist.”
Ratcliffe says she receives 2-3 inquiries per day from parents hoping to access childcare through the centre, and that prior to the cancellation of the waitlist she had upwards of 40 people on it.
Those who inquire about the waitlist are referred to the Child Care Resource and Referral Centre to access a list of local centers with open waitlists. But Ratcliffe said there are limited local options for children over the age of three.
While the expansion of the $10-a-day program in Nelson is a positive step forward, Ratcliffe said something needs to be done to address the local shortage of childcare educators to better ensure accessibility to childcare in the region.
“Part of the issue is that there is a childcare educator shortage. So working towards retention and recruitment for this area for ECEs to come and work here would help other centers being able to expand.”
She added that Nelson has a unique issue when it comes to recruitment due to the lack of housing available for educators willing to move to the region to fill open positions.
“Nelson is a tough town to move to. There isn’t a lot of housing. So a lot of the time when ECEs want to move here, they can’t because there’s nowhere to live. Over the last four or five years, I’ve interviewed a lot of amazing ECEs that can’t move here because there’s nowhere to live. I have a job for them, but they can’t come.”
In addition to the expansion of the $10-a-day childcare program, the province has also removed the ability for childcare facilities to charge a waitlist fee, although Ratcliffe said the Silver King Centre didn’t charge a fee when its waitlist was in place.
Through the $10-a-day childcare program, the average cost of childcare per child is reduced from $1,120 a month to $200, saving families an average of approximately $920 a month per child.
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