Families with young kids in Ardrossan are nervous after being told one of their daycares in the community east of Edmonton would be shutting down.
They’re now left wondering where their kids will go and why this is happening in the hamlet about seven kilometres east of Sherwood Park, in Strathcona County.
Where It’s at Country Daycare has welcomed hundreds of families, like Brianna Morris’s, but that will soon be coming to an end.
“It’s a gut punch. I honestly can’t imagine sending them anywhere else,” Morris said.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Her kids, Hunter and Eden, have attended the daycare for years. Morris and her husband both have full-time jobs, and now have to find a new daycare before the end of the school year.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what to do with my kids. I don’t have family here to look after them,” she said.
Where It’s at Country Daycare opened in 2019 in a building on the grounds of Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Ardrossan.
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This winter, instead of their annual lease renewal, the daycare’s owner received a different message from their landlord, Elk Island Catholic Schools.
“On the 20th of March, I received a termination letter that says you have 90 days to be out of here,” said daycare owner Loraine Durocher.
“Needless to say, the panic set in.”
The daycare offers year-round services and outdoor programming. Around 30 families are currently registered and more are signed up.
“I have kids that are scheduled to start next week, I have kids scheduled for May, I have kids scheduled for September, I have kids scheduled for next September and the September after that,” Durocher said.
Where It’s at Country Daycare now has to turn everyone away.
The daycare and its families say that despite asking why this is happening, they’ve heard nothing.
The situation is frustrating to Shannon Sawatzky. Her youngest daughter attends the daycare, and instead of going to school with the rest of her siblings, she’ll now have to go elsewhere.
“Now it means she’ll need to attend daycare in another community, go to school in another community, which is just something I’m really struggling with — that concept of having my kiddos, one in Fort Saskatchewan, while two are here. They’re all very excited that they’re going to be in school together,” said Sawatzky.
“It is really important that we keep this daycare running.
“We are a small community here, and it’s vital that our kids keep the comfort, the security for their well-being.”
So why is the lease being terminated?
Global News reached out to Elk Island Catholic Schools for information and was told the division was “unable to provide a comment on the situation at this time as staff are currently on spring break.”
After this story was published on Thursday, Elk Island Catholic Schools provided an updated statement to Global News on Friday morning.
“Due to significant enrollment growth at Holy Redeemer Catholic School, the Division was recently unable to renew the lease agreement for the 2026/27 school year for Where It’s At County Daycare in Ardrossan,” read the statement.
“We recognize the vital role childcare plays in a thriving community and understand the impact this news has on local families. This decision was necessitated by the immediate need for internal classroom space; however, it reinforces our commitment to long-term infrastructure improvements.”
The daycare is asking families to stay optimistic for their kids, but they say it’s not easy.
“I need child care. So I’m really hoping the school will work with us to find a solution so that we can turn this around and my kids can keep coming to the place they love,” Morris said.
Pretty nasty thing Elk Island Catholic Schools to do on short notice
Funny, because this same daycare first forced me into part time care due to me being on maternity leave with my newborns twins and then later terminated my care entirely at the beginning of the month. They “value working families”, so I guess a mother of 4 under 5 who is currently not earning a pay check is not valuable or working.
Form my experience the owner does not work well with others, as is evident in the high staff turnover over.