Atira shuttering 3 B.C. daycares amid wage dispute, blaming provincial funding model

CTV News has learned a not-for-profit daycare operator is shutting down three of its facilities, leaving more than 100 families scrambling.

Dozens of Lower Mainland families are scrambling to make daycare arrangements this summer after receiving notices that the facilities will be closing permanently due to funding issues.

CTV News has obtained letters from Atira Women’s Resource Society to parents with children at the Seksik and River Run early care learning centers notifying them that they’ll be shutting down at the end of June.

Atira is also closing the Willow Early Care centre, for a total of 118 day care spots lost.

“Atira explored options to continue operating the program,” the April letters read. “However, under the current childcare funding model in British Columbia, the program is not financially sustainable without a different funding structure.”

The B.C. Government Employees’ Union has confirmed about 50 of their members will lose their jobs after collective bargaining negotiations resulted in a proposal that was voted down by members as Atira had proposed cuts to sick pay and pensions, as well as rolled back wages.

“That’s just completely unacceptable to the workforce there because obviously, these people do not get paid a lot,” said BCGEU president Paul Finch. “I think it’s important we understand just how critical child care is at these sites and we’re hoping that the funding can be found.”

Atira proposed that uncertified workers make a starting wage of $18.50 per hour, going up to $23 per hour for senior early childhood educators, according to a BCGEU bulletin to affected members.

In a statement to CTV News, Atira said the closing of three early childhood education centres is “not a decision we have taken lightly.”

The organization said the “provincial funding model does not reflect the true cost of delivering high-quality, non-profit child care within a unionized environment,” and claimed that it has been operating at “substantial deficits over an extended period of time.”

The minister of education and childcare told CTV News her staff is trying to find out exactly what precipitated the announcement, describing funding as stable with Atira accessing multiple funding programs.

“Nothing has changed over these past months; this has been the same model that’s been in place for a couple of years now,” said Lisa Beare. “But ultimately, it’s up to Atira to make their own business decisions.”

Beare says she’s unaware of any other operators shutting down early childhood education centres, and that they’ll support families in transitioning to other sites or potentially new operators in the vacant spaces.