Daycares and parents in Sudbury thrilled about daycare announcement

Local daycares in Sudbury told CTV News they are thrilled about Monday's daycare announcement and said it’s been a long time in the making.

The Ontario government said it has signed a child-care deal with the federal government, a move that will see child-care fees cut in half by the end of the year and rebates retroactive to April 1 handed out to parents in May.

Mary Lou Coffey, executive director with Walden Day Care Centre in Lively, said they’ve been waiting a long time to hear the news.

“There’s been a lot of busy people in the province advocating for this child-care program," said Coffey.

"There’s lots and lots of parents that are going to benefit from this and they’re going to be doing the happy dance, too.”

Tracy Saarikoski, executive director with Discovery Early Learning & Care, said she has been an advocate for these changes for more than 30 years.

“I’m thrilled as an executive director and as an advocate for raising my voice along with mostly my sisters across Canada and especially Ontario to make change for families and programs and staff,” said Saarikoski.

“We want to have those dollars back in the pockets of families -- they deserve it the most.”

While the Ford government said it will set a new minimum wage for child-care workers and supervisors, executive directors with both the Walden Day Care Centre and Discovery Early Learning & Care said they will continue advocating for higher wages because they said that’s what workers deserve.

“We know that minimum start of $18 per hour for registered early childhood professionals is not what we’re asking," said Saarikoski.

"We were asking for between $25 and $30 an hour to start and to really consider our education and our work experience and years in programs."

“They’re looking at $18… well… you’re not going to get a lot of registered early childhood educators most probably for $18," said Coffey.

"If we are going to offer this to all families that need child-care, we are going to need more spaces.”

As of April 1, the new deal will go into effect and will mean a 25 per cent reduction in fees for children age five and under.

The $10-a-day plan is set to be in place in Ontario by 2026.