North End daycare expansion seeks to make dent in wait list

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This article was published 30/08/2023 (738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On a given day, Erin Nault, program director of Huron Child Care Inc., receives nearly a dozen requests from parents seeking a daycare space.

The Winnipeg centre’s wait list has climbed to the thousands.

“Since they announced the $10-a-day (policy), we’re taking anywhere between five to 12 calls or emails per day from families looking for spaces,” Nault said. “The affordability is there — now the priority will be to get these spaces and families into these centres.”

After receiving a $200,000 guaranteed loan from the Jubilee Fund, Huron plans to expand to a new North End facility that will allow it to open up 120 child care spots. The funding is part of a $1.8-million project called Mountain Child Care.

During the first phase, Huron will acquire a building on Mountain Avenue. After that, Nault said it will apply for additional funding through the provincial Early Learning and Child Care Program to help with construction and operation costs.

If all works as planned, it will double Huron’s current capacity of 91 children.

“We currently operate out of the North End already, so the second centre will just be an expansion,” Nault said. “There’s such a need in the area. There are newcomer families here, there are lots of young families (and) students.”

Peter Cantelon, executive director of the Jubilee Fund, said the social impact investor has helped many Manitoba non-profits, such as Huron, secure loans.

“They don’t necessarily have the financial history or collateral to support the kind of lending they need, so we will offer our finances and our assets as collateral so that we can get this loan across the finish line,” Cantelon said.

“Having access to child care that’s affordable is critical to poverty avoidance and poverty remediation,” he said. “It allows adults to be able to have a secure job and to sustain that over a long period of time.”

As of April 2, parents or guardians pay $10/day at non-profit and child care centres that receive provincial funding. In June, the Tory government promised to create 23,000 child care spaces by 2026.

On Wednesday, the Liberals promised to end long daycare wait lists and increase early childhood educator pay, if elected Oct. 3.

“Getting $10/day child care done, and done right, is a top priority for Manitoba Liberals,” leader Dougald Lamont said at a news conference.

“For many Manitoban families — especially in today’s tough economy — whether you have child care or not makes the difference as to whether you can work and pay your bills.”

While non-profit and provincially-funded child care centres are required to abide by the $10/day rule, private child care is exempt.

Nault said this has effectively led to a disparity, where the affordability is there but space is not. “They almost did it kind of backwards. They should’ve had the spaces and the staff available before they made it so affordable.”

While Nault is optimistic about the future opening of Huron’s new facility, she said it will only make a dent in the daycare wait list. She wants the government to commit to creating more spaces and boosting staff numbers.

“More people need to do what we are trying to do.”

cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca