FREDERICTON – Daycare owners and operators held meetings across New Brunswick on Saturday to discuss looming changes to a program that could mean a loss of up to $12,000 a year.
The Liberal government revealed last week they’re changing the eligibility to the province’s Quality Improvement Financial Support program.
The program was originally created to help increase the amount of daycare spaces and improve the quality.
It provides subsidies to daycare workers to top-up their income. Workers with early childhood education qualifications or a university degree are eligible to receive $5 an hour. Workers without those qualifications are eligible for $3.07 an hour.
“Without the wage enhancement, I will certainly be working below minimum wage,” said Judy Wilson-Shee, who owns Explore Your World Daycare in New Maryland.
READ MORE: Daycare owners say policy change could put them out of business
For Jean Robinson, owner and operator of Lincoln Daycare Centre and Lincoln Community Afterschool Club, the change will mean a loss of $11,440.
“So I have to sit down and find out, okay where am I going to have to find that money?” she said.
Robinson helped mobilize daycare owners when she was informed of the change through email. On Saturday, five meetings happened across the province to talk about what’s happened and what the next steps are.
“We heard of stories where they’re going to have to let staff go,” she said. “They’re going to have to stop offering services to families with special needs children because they have to find the money somewhere so they’re going to have to let the teacher’s assistant go.”
On Friday, several owners met with Education Minister Serge Rousselle. Both sides said the meeting went well and expect to meet again within a week.
“I think they understood how much I value their work and we agreed that we will come to each other in the near future,” Rousselle said.
“They will be sending me some information that we discussed and we’ll see from there.”
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