Childcare wait lists long -- and getting longer -- in the Sault
As the promised $10-a-day daycare program is rolled out, there are 1,500 children on a waitlist for childcare in the Sault.
The local YMCA has eight childcare centres, servicing more than 300 families.
CEO Robert Burns said that list is going to rise as more families opt in to the federal government's $10 per day childcare program.
"Waiting lists will definitely grow, there's no questions about it," Burns said.
"I mean, we’re not even at full capacity now, and that’s not because of a lack of demand. It’s simply a lack of ECE’s staffing."
Depending on the time of year, their staffing complement "ranges from 75-95 per cent capacity".
Addressing that issue was at the forefront of a recent decision by the Sault Social Services Board.
Due to the lowering of costs for childcare, the board said fewer would need access to its subsidized childcare fund.
The decision was then made to allocate $280,000 this year, and twice that amount in 2023, to general operations budgets for childcare providers.
Board chair Luke Dufour said the intention is that the money would go towards staff pay increases.
“The logic here is that if you’re enabling your non-profit operators to increase wages, especially for the bottom of their salary band, you’re going to make those jobs more attractive,” Dufour said.
As far as uptake for the $10/day childcare, officials said seven out of 11 not-for-profit childcare centres have opted in, as well as one out of two for-profit daycares.
While additional applications are still being reviewed, the deadline was pushed back until Nov. 1.
As part of the federal program, childcare centre's that opt-in, such as the YMCA, have to lower costs by 25 per cent immediately, and an additional 25 per cent beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
The goal is $10 a day by 2026.
Burns said the first round of reimbursement cheques for parents, retroactive to April 1 are going out in the next few weeks.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.