Parents could be on the hook for child care fee increases in the hundreds of dollars if there are no changes made to the province’s Childcare Fee Reduction Initiative Program.
The reduction program was put in place to reduce fees parents pay, but is contingent on childcare facilities keeping annual increases below three per cent.
Many childcare facilities, including Almosthome in the capital region, are facing cost increases well above that.
Almosthome owner Cindy Ross operates seven facilities and saw a cost increase of more than 17 per cent due to soaring staffing costs and other inflationary pressures.
“The staffing crisis has been very hard for us post COVID. Many have said this is not for them and it has also increased the demand rate,” Ross said.
“The ministry needs to look at this as our contracts are being dealt with immediately.”
In a letter sent to parents last week, Almosthome said the annual yearly contract with the provincial government is expiring on March 31.
The contract has not been renewed, but the province has granted a one month extension in order to allow more time to review the request for a rate increase.
If the credit is not approved, the childcare facility will go from charging $740 per month to $1285 per month.
“I know there are people who are paycheque to paycheque and this will mean for a lot of parents ‘do we pay daycare or not send a kid to daycare?'” parent Bryan Briere told Global News.
“It is great we got the extension, but there is still uncertainty and questions about why this has taken so long.”
B.C. minister responsible for childcare Grace Lore said fee-reduction initiative disruptions will not take place for anyone who has requested a three per cent fee increase or lower.
Lore said providers could defer the pay increases in order to give the ministry more time to review the possible increases.
The province is also working on a program to help recruit and train childcare workers, in an attempt to drive costs down.
For now, the province is not considering making any changes to the cap on how much rates could go up.
“We know that the program is the best way to keep fees low and the caps ensures those savings are passed on to parents,” Lore said.