While the Saskatchewan government unveiled its plans to send some people back to work next month, the provincial opposition said current limits on childcare facilities could affect the amount of workers able to resume their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“What is the plan to make sure that nobody’s in a situation where they’re unable to go to work for childcare reasons or where they might lose their job or face other penalties? Because they have to say no, they have to stay home with their kids,” said Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili.
The provincial state of emergency limits childcare facilities to eight children per room within the facility.
Day homes are largely unaffected because they operate on a one worker to eight children ratio at all times.
In the third phase of the province’s Reopen Saskatchewan plan, the limit for childcare facilities increases to 15 children per room. That’s also the maximum number of school-aged kids one worker is allowed to supervise under Saskatchewan regulations.
But the NDP is raising concerns for parents allowed to go back to work in the first two phases of the reopen plan.
“We know if we’re asking people to go back to work and their kids are home from school or their childcare situation doesn’t have the capacity to accommodate their kids as they’re having different rules with physical distancing, that’s going to be a big challenge,” Meili said.
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Donna Rice is the executive director of Stepping Stones Childcare Centre, which operates three locations in Regina.
Each location, which typically can accommodate 90 children, is now limited to a 48-children capacity because of the state of emergency.
Rice said she doesn’t foresee any issues when it comes to childcare spaces as the Reopen Saskatchewan plan rolls out.
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“We can take 48 children and many of our parents are students and we do not expect their children to come back until the fall,” Rice said in an email. “Once Phase 3 starts, we will be able to accommodate 15 children in a room, or normal capacity of 90 children.
“We are not enrolling new children, so we only need space for our own families.”
Rice said current attendance is averaging around 16 kids at each location. She expects that to double to 32 children each day in early May.
Premier Scott Moe echoed Rice’s comments, saying he’s confident the province can resolve any childcare issues that arise.
“We can work through some of the challenges we have specific to daycare capacity,” Moe said. “There is some capacity that is in our system today … Our day cares did not close right down.”
If necessary, Moe said the province will consider opening school-based day cares to workers that fall under the first two phases of the plan. These options are already open to essential service and healthcare employees.
“As we move through the weeks and months of this phase-in plan, there may be an opportunity for some of that space to be available,” Moe said. “We’ll work through that on a virtually week-by-week basis.”
Moe said the province will also review different childcare subsidies to make sure they are addressing today’s current needs.
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