Non-profit organization questions if $10-a day childcare program will make or break them

The childcare deficit

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Despite a recent announcement on federal funding for more childcare spaces, the shortage of childcare facilities in the Kootenay region has other problems that money might not solve, says one childcare centre executive director.

More childcare spaces will be opening up in the Kootenay Boundary region thanks to the $10-a-day childcare program. The Town of Creston also recently passed a zoning bylaw to allow for childcare facilities to operate in residential areas.

However, non-profits that rely on revenue to help put money back into these programs may not benefit as much.

Stephanie Dunne, executive director of the Creston Valley Supportive Centre, said that the childcare operating fund has been incredibly beneficial to parents, but maybe not as beneficial to the organizations.

“I can't give my staff a raise based on the funding,” she said. "Anything extra that we need, we have to get through grants or donations.”

She said that in the not-for-profit sector, there is a certain amount of red tape they have to cut through to meet the required criteria to obtain funding. On March 6, the federal government announced that B.C. would be receiving $5.38 billion in funding to support the stability of early learning and childcare.

A big win for those who are seeking child care access in the Kootenay region, which has the least amount of childcare spaces (4,000) in any region in the entirety of the province, including northern B.C., which has 8,000.

Dunne said that it's not just about the funding, though, and that the situation is far more layered than people assume.

“On top of that, we have no housing. So how are we going to bring in early childhood educator (ECE) staff?"

She added that because of the lack of staff, facilities are often in competition with one another and often pluck employees from other childcare centres out of desperation.

“It's a terrible competition.”