Provincial funding not enough: U of M campus daycare

MAGALLY ZELAYA, STAFF

There are currently 300 people on the two-year waiting list for Campus Daycare, a Fort Garry childcare program that accepts 60 children per year, a maximum imposed by its daycare licence. Campus Daycare, a non-profit business open strictly to university staff and students, is only one of many day-care centres involved in the province-wide problem with funding and child-care space.

At the Aug. 30 University of Manitoba Students’ Union council meeting, UMSU president Garry Sran announced that funding had come through for Playcare, a joint initiative of UMSU and the University of Manitoba. The funding meant that another staff could be hired allowing the daycare to have maximum capacity of children for the space.

Playcare now has enough staffing for 20 children, but due to spacing, can only allow 16.

“Funding is a huge issue,” said Carrie Pruden, director of Campus Daycare.

Funding has become one of the most significant issues in regards to Manitoban day-care centres. While provincial daycares receive an annual operating grant designated for staffing salaries, the grant only makes up one-third of the total operating budget for the day-care centre. Parents’ fees for their children make up the other two-thirds.

Pruden says that the operating grants are increased sporadically every few years and are not enough to match the rate of living.

“The operating grant is not increasing enough or fast enough,” Pruden said.

Another issue currently under the microscope with Manitoban day-care centres is the lack of childcare. Pruden explained that the lack of childcare is due to a lack of licenses and fully educated and trained staffing shortages.

“The colleges aren’t graduating enough people and they’re not attracting enough people, and that’s related to salaries,” Pruden said.

The average starting wage for a Manitoba day-care employee with an early childhood education degree is $25,000 annually, which roughly works out to $13 to $14 an hour.

Even though Manitoban daycare centres need funds, they are unable to raise the rates for their childcare. The province of Manitoba created a freeze in 2005-2007 with their Five Year Plan for Child Care to limit the amount of money for parents spend on daycares.

“I can’t charge anymore, even if parents wanted to pay more,” Pruden said.

Campus Daycare is currently charging the maximum cost allowed per child of $18.80 per day.

Colin Lemoine, a spokesman for Gord MacKintosh, province of Manitoba minister of family services and housing, said that the province’s day-care centres can look forward to improvements in the coming years for child-care services.

On May 15, 2007, the province of Manitoba committed $11 million to create 2,500 child-care spaces and $1 million to training and recruitment of new early childhood educators.

There is also a planned six per cent increase of wages over the next two years.

“It’s been a very important priority for the government,” said Lemoine.

Since 1999, the province of Manitoba has opened up 7,160 spaces for children and increased child-care staff wages 23 per cent.

The federal government, in their 2007 budget, proposed transferring per year $250 million to each territory and province. The funds are designated for the creation of new childcare spaces. As well, in the budget, a proposed 25 percent investment tax credit was introduced, which will be given to businesses that create new childcare spaces in workplaces, with a maximum cap of $10,000 per space created.

The federal government pledged to create 125,000 child-care spots 18 months ago, according to a Canadian Press news report. So far it has built 1,250 spots in Manitoba, and an additional 7,000 spaces in Ontario, 500 in Saskatchewan and 750 in New Brunswick.