92 per cent of younger Saskatchewan children live in child care ‘desert’, report says

Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of younger children who are living in child care deserts at 92 per cent.

This is according to a report titled “Not done yet: $10-a-day child care requires addressing Canada’s child care deserts” which was released on May 16, 2023.

“Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of children living in child care deserts by far: 85,500 younger children live in a postal code where there are more than three children per licensed space,” the report read.

“This means that many more children are living in child care deserts in Saskatchewan than Quebec, even though Quebec has four times the child population. Saskatchewan parents who live in downtown Regina stand the best chance of finding a child care space nearby.”

It’s been over two years since mother Marli Kormos, who resides in Balgonie, has been on a waitlist for child care. The mother of two boys says the wait is tough as the oldest boy is already at the Balgonie Early Learning Centre but her youngest son continues to wait.

“I’d like them to be in the same building together and just the educational value that gets,” said Kormos. “It’s tough taking them to two different places and picking them up every day.”

It’s the reason why Ashley Austman, Balgonie Early Learning Centre director, is promoting the early childhood education classes that Saskatchewan Polytechnic is offering to high school students. She believes this initiative is a great start and also provides students with that opportunity.

“So far we’ve had a lot of kids show a lot of interest in the programs, which is great,” said Austman. “We’ve seen a big shortage in early childhood educators this past year especially. So, bringing the students together to show them what careers are a possibility for them, it’s been a great experience.”

Austman says the Balgonie Early Learning Centre has definitely been impacted by the staffing shortage.

“As a rural centre, we’re struggling to find staff to come out,” she said. “For a few months we actually had to suspend an entire group of children due to the fact that we didn’t have enough staff to maintain the ratio that we needed to.”

The report’s recommendations states that many of the benefits of lower child care fees can only be fully realized if the newly created demand can be met with a much-improved supply of licensed spaces.

“Without the staff, child care is just an empty building, so the issue of child care workforce must be addressed without delay,” read the report.

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