Affordable child care is coming to 4 Wing Cold Lake.
As part of their Early Learning and Child Care pilot program, the Province of Alberta has started offering $25-a-day daycare across the province, and expanding the number of spaces available.
This includes their newest additions of 4 Wing Cold Lake and CFB Edmonton.
For Cold Lake, it means an increase of about 61 new child care spaces at the Military Family Resource Centre.
Although the daycare is located on the base, Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr said it’s also open to families living within the City of Cold Lake.
“The question is always are we getting to those that really need the money?” he asked. “We have some families that are really going through some hard times right now, and it’s important that we identify them and they take priority.”
Cyr knows that families across his constituency are struggling with the loss of jobs in the oil industry and other sectors.
But he also recognizes the lower wages military members face when they relocate to Cold Lake.
“When they’re being transferred in, a lot of times it’s lower wages when you look at the average across the country,” he explained. “Right now, everybody is feeling the pinch.”
Minister of Children’s Services Danielle Larivee said in a release, “Military families sacrifice so much, especially with one parent deploying for months at a time, serving Albertans and Canadians. By adding more affordable spaces, we’re reducing pressures for these families, adding financial security and peace of mind.”
The program has increased 6,000 spaces across the province, and created 400 child care jobs. Alberta-wide, parents are expected to save an average of $425 per month.
These are savings the local MLA feels are necessary, after the increase to minimum wage and the introduction of the carbon tax.
“What happened is we had the minimum wage increase. That went up from about $10 to $15 per hour. That created a real burden on the daycare centres, which means they had to increase their fees,” explained Cyr.
But that wasn’t the only hit local child care facilities had to take.
They also faced the carbon tax, which increased their electricity and gas rates.
These costs are ultimately passed down to the families that utilize these facilities, Cyr said.
“We’re seeing some double-digit increases from these daycares.”
In some cases, centres have increased their fees by 30 per cent.
“This is a result of the NDP government bringing in some pretty strong changes in Alberta’s labour. Our middle class families, and our parents, are the ones that are feeling the real pinch right now,” expressed Cyr. “I don’t think they had any choice but to bring something out to help subsidize the lack of foresight in this area.”
The affordable child care program is being executed in pilots, which will give Albertans a chance to see if it really works.
“We need to be looking at ways of reducing the burden. If this is a way to make that happen, then we need to explore that,” Cyr noted.
Although he sees this as a positive program overall, there is one issue he wishes would be addressed.
Currently, Quebec is offering a similar affordable child care model, however their centres are running off of a $7-a-day fee.
“We’re seeing a clear difference in standard of life when it comes to Alberta families versus Quebec families,” said Cyr.
The expansion to the program is funded through a bilateral agreement with the Government of Canada, which is a three-year $136-million investment in expanding Alberta’s program. The province has already invested $10-million, and has committed to an additional $4.5-million towards the expansion.
“I’m pleased to see that funding from the Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Bilateral Agreement will help more families across Alberta access $25-a-day Early Learning and Child Care Centres,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of families, children, and social development for the Government of Canada. “Investments in affordable, quality, and accessibly child care programming are the foundation of the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework, which makes it more affordable for thousands of parents to enter the labour market, return to work, or participate in education and training.”
