Daycare 'cash grab' decried

Photo: Contributed

B.C. parents are urging the province to follow Ontario's lead and ban waitlist fees at daycares.

They say the fees appear to be nothing more than a cash grab – without any guarantee of an eventual placement.

Ontario banned the practice of paying to hold a spot on Sept. 1.

Burnaby mom Sara Banjac was shocked to learn some daycares charge up to $200 to get on their waitlists.

"I paid it, just to get on the list and have a chance of getting a call. And I never did get a call," she told CTV.

In Richmond, Kristi O'Neill said she couldn’t find a daycare that doesn't charge the fees, and paid to put her children on seven wait-lists.

"I still have not heard if we have a spot for March," she said. "Can I go back to work or not?"

Minister of Children and Families Stephanie Cadieux said Thursday she was unaware day cares charged such fees in B.C. and promised to look into it.

– with files from CTV Vancouver