'Rolling childcare closures' could be coming to Alberta, association warns
Frustrated by daycare subsidy agreements, an association representing 30,000 childcare spaces in Alberta warned Friday that rolling closures may be coming to a daycare near you.
The Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs (AACE) has been publicly raising concerns for weeks about how operators are being paid by the provincial government.
"We're not looking to disrupt the lives of parents or upset anyone," AACE Chair Krystal Churcher told CTV News Edmonton.
"As operators, our main concern has always been the quality of care, and children, and we're not feeling that's being represented in the program, federally or provincially."
Churcher called the closures "a last resort." She wouldn't disclose how many childcare centres could be closing, when that may start, or place a dollar figure on how much additional funding her association is seeking.
"I think at any time we may see closures of any of those spaces. But we're always hoping that's not where we end up," Churcher said.
"Maybe a small disruption to the system would bring the awareness that parents need to really become educated on the concerns for this program."
The association has three main issues: the amount of time it takes Alberta to pay, rates that have been frozen below inflation and accounting costs that are shouldered by providers.
The AACE called the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement, better known as $10/day daycare, an "underfunded and poorly developed government program."
Churcher is calling for Alberta to intervene with emergency funding to help keep daycares open but also doubts the long-term viability of $10/day systems.
"Things are costing so much more, and inflation rates are so much higher…What can you actually buy for $10?" she asked.
"I don't see that it's going to be a successful program unless we stop and rebuild it in a way that makes sense for our province and our families in Alberta."
Chucher said operators feel "caught in the middle" between Alberta and Ottawa, and are being squeezed by a formula that doesn't add up for them.
Last month, a daycare operator in Sherwood Park said her business is "bleeding money" and she wished she never signed onto the $10/day daycare plan.
At the time, the province's minister for children and family services said he had an "open door" to finding solutions with operators, but Churcher said that hasn't resulted in any solutions.
In a Friday afternoon statement to CTV News Edmonton, Alberta's Minister of Children and Family Services Searle Turton said the vast majority of child care operators in the province are happy with the current agreement.
"It is disappointing that the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs, which represents approximately 10 per cent of child care operators in the province, is choosing to scare families by threatening to disrupt their lives and livelihoods, instead of engaging in good faith on the development of a new early learning and child care funding formula," he wrote.
Turton said the government has already committed to a three-per-cent-per-year funding increase, $27.2 million in one-time grants, $12.4 million this year to assist with financial reporting requirements, as well as wage top-ups, incentives, subsidies and professional development funding.
CTV News Edmonton has also reached out to the federal government for reaction to this story.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
NEW What a wildfire survivor says she regrets not grabbing before leaving home
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
World No. 1 golfer charged with police officer assault before PGA Championship second round
World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with the assault of a police officer in what he called a 'chaotic situation' before being released in time to start his second round at the PGA Championship on Friday.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
B.C. optometrist warns against trending eye colour change procedure
A medical procedure that can permanently change a person's eye colour may be trending on social media, but a B.C. optometrist is warning about the significant risks associated.
An airplane passenger was spotted in an overhead bin. This was the reaction
Airplane overhead compartments. Home to luggage of all shapes and sizes, the odd coat or two, several duty-free bags, a fair bit of dust and… passengers?