Fee reduction plan still facing criticism from daycare providers

Daycare operators criticize child care plan They think the rollout is a mess and parents may not get the savings they’re waiting for.

As the British Columbia government prepares to launch a fee reduction program that could help parents save hundreds on child care, some daycare operators say they're still uncomfortable with the number of unanswered questions surrounding the initiative.

Beginning as early as April, the government will fund licensed child care providers who opt into the program so they can cut as much as $350 a month from the cost of a daycare space. The program is aimed at passing those savings on to parents.

The initiative was announced during the 2018 budget speech in February as part of the John Horgan government's hotly-anticipated, billion-dollar investment into child care.

On Wednesday, the premier and Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen held a carefully crafted photo-op to mark the child care milestone.

"We know that this is a big change," Chen said. "This is the first time ever that a government is making such an important investment."

But while the initiative could mean significant cost savings for parents, many daycare providers say they don't know what it will mean for them.

"I would love to be able to opt into this. I would love nothing more than to drop my fees for my daycare families, but I can't with no transparency," said daycare operator Suzie Logan.

"How many of us would sign a contract that was rolled out two weeks prior to the deadline of our opt-in?"

Some operators had trouble even getting their contracts before the original deadline.

"It took three days just to be able to download the forms," said Meagan Brame, the operator of Saxe Point Day Care in Esquimalt.

Linda Shirley of The Arts Connection/Renaissance Kids shared a similar story, saying "it took me six days of calling and it didn't arrive until the original deadline date."

To sign on, child care providers also have to agree to limit future fee increases, and many worry about having to ask permission to implement rate hikes they'll need to simply keep their businesses going.

Some daycare operators have signed on to the program, but admit there isn't enough information.

"I decided to opt in, with some reservations," Brame said.

She's still waiting to hear from the government about whether she's approved and what exactly she should start charging as of next month.

Whether they're in or out for now, most child care providers say they're hoping the province will work with them moving forward.

"We're just hoping to get some transparency through these programs to understand what this means for us as private child care providers," Logan said. "We just feel that we each have different situations. There's not a one-size-fits-all for this."

According to the province, about 900 of the 3,400 contracts sent out to child care providers have been returned with an 85 per cent opt-in rate.

That means that so far, only about 23 per cent of eligible centres are on board.

The government recently extended the deadline to join the program to April, with Premier John Horgan acknowledging Wednesday that his government is "being aggressive" in implementing the strategy.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Bhinder Sajan