Killarney Guide

Increased wages imposed by government leave operators struggling to continue

BY KIM LANGEN

Daycare for just 10 bucks a day is a dream come true for so many working parents.

But for the operators of early learning child care centres, the implementation of the government’s new program has thrown them into a tailspin.

The main issue is the ‘wage grid’ imposed by the provincial and federal governments, who are working in tandem on the new program. 

The new wage grid means increases in wages for employees in day care and early learning. But coming up with more revenue to provide these wages is another story, and the shortfall for day care/ECE operators is not being met fully by the government. 

As a result, child care centres are being forced to deal with a major increase in their operating costs, and in trying to find a way to continue operation.

“This imposed wage grid increased our payroll by 45 per cent,” said Nicole Fleming, director of the non-profit, government-licensed Kiddie Corner Early Learning Centre in Killarney. “They made a commitment to increase our operating grant, but it was only 12 per cent, so we now have a 33 per cent shortfall. This has been the key issue since the $10 per day daycare came out. Centres in Manitoba cannot offer quality care under this wage grid.”

Fleming, who holds an Early Childhood Education Level III qualification, and who has also worked for a number of years as an Early Childhood Development Specialist, is deeply committed to delivering the best services to children in her care.

But the new rules are putting too much strain on staff, families, and the basic operation of centres, she said.

“Up to this point we have been managing with grants the government has given us, with fundraising, and with parent fees,” she said. “Those are our only sources of funding. There are no other areas to pull from to make up the difference. We have been struggling to make ends meet with the revenue we currently receive. Families have been drained with fundraising. We have been advised to cut corners with such ideas as doing less snow removal in the winter, reducing staff, and charging more for our hot lunches.” 

Fleming said many daycare and early learning centres throughout the province are facing the same hardships.

“It’s deflating. It’s so frustrating. And it feels like blackmail,” she said. “They are telling the parents that it’s going to be better, this $10 a day. They told us that we would be better off, and they would give us more money. And now it is impossible, and many centres are struggling. Who in the government is going to listen?”

Fleming, along with Susan Nafziger, the director of Roots of Early Learning/Nursery School in Killarney, wrote a joint letter to the Municipality of Killarney Turtle Mountain, to express their concerns, and to ‘start the conversation,’ she said. They were invited to make representation at this past Wednesday’s council meeting to discuss the issues.

In addition, Fleming has written a letter to Cliff Cullen, Wab Kinew, Wayne Ewasko, and to the Finance Advisor of Winnipeg’s Early Learning Office, she said.

See page 4 of this week’s Killarney Guide for a Letter to the Editor, and a government news release on the $10/day childcare funding model on page 6, and keep scrolling to share this story.

FUN TIME AT KIDDIE CORNER – There was plenty of lively road action at Kiddie Corner Early Learning Centre in Killarney on Thursday afternoon. The government has introduced a new program for $10 a day daycare, but operators are struggling to make ends meet with the financial constraints it entails.

JAY STRUTH/KILLARNEY GUIDE