Childcare plan draws backlash from some providers

By Sam Leishman - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on February 1, 2025.

Plans to implement a flat fee for child care services across Alberta in the next two months may actually come as an extra financial burden for low-income families living here in the south.

The UCP government announced on Jan. 30 that parents with children from newborn to kindergarten age will start paying $326.25 per child per month for full-time care at licensed facilities, or $230 for part-time care, as of April 1. As a result, the current Child Care Subsidy Program, which allows families earning less than $180,000 in combined income annually, to reduce their fees by up to $266 per child per month, will end on the same date.

This universal fee system is part of the federal government’s $3.8-billion Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

The Child Care Directors Association of Southwest Alberta is among many now expressing major concerns about the feds’ universal approach. Bailee Procee, the association’s secretary, says they’re frustrated for local low-income families whose fees will skyrocket come April.

“Our fees are so much lower than the rest of the province,” Procee told the Herald. “We have parents in many programs paying $0, or $30 or $40 depending on the child’s age. This is seen in southern Alberta and not necessarily in Calgary and Edmonton where parents were already paying a few hundred dollars a month. We are seeing drastically big changes for families that were paying $0 and now they’re paying $650 for two children.”

Procee explains that families earning over $180,000, who were never eligible for subsidy, will end up benefitting most from the incoming price reduction. While Pshe understands the intent behind charging universal fees, she argues that it doesn’t make sense for high-income parents to be paying the same amount as parents who are trying to complete their post-secondary education, for example. Procee fears that many southern Alberta families will be forced to decide between paying for child care or buying groceries.

“There’s been a lot of posts on social media with parents from ten years ago saying they used to pay $1,200 a month in child care fees, so this is nothing,” she says. “There’s a lot of comparison to what it was back then. In today’s economy, it’s so rough. The cost of living is so extremely high, wages are still low, so to add that on top of everything right now, it’s heavy.”

While child care providers have no choice but to implement this change, they will not be giving up their fight for financial fairness and the maintenance of high quality services any time soon. In an attempt to re-assure worried parents, Procee posted a Facebook message on behalf of the association saying that they will “fight for solutions, we will advocate for families, and we will ensure your voices are heard.”

Meanwhile, The Association of Childcare Entrepreneurs Alberta (ACE) is commending the provincial government’s decision to push against a federal program that it considers flawed at its very core.

Krystal Churcher, ACE chair, agrees that April 1 will be challenging for low-income families, but she sees it as an opportunity for them to hold the federal government accountable.

“There’s not enough money Canada-wide or Alberta-wide to fund a universal program that covers 85% of child care costs for everybody. I think that is a really irresponsible use of taxpayer money, especially with the deficits the way they are right now, to be funding high-income families.”

ACE will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday aimed at teaching parents how to best advocate for their child care needs.

As a possible solution, Churcher explains that ACE has been advocating for a number of years now to implement a federal subsidy that would go directly into the hands of parents.

Similar to Alberta’s existing program, ACE would like families to be assessed on their means to afford child care, then have funding distributed to those in the most need first and trickle down from there, rather than moving ahead with this incoming universal scheme. Churcher says such an approach could eliminate federal control, other than providing provinces with the necessary funds, and give more control back to parents to choose the child care programs that work best for them.