Limits in Your Province/Territory. please

[sunnydays]

Rachael, by "dragged down to your level" I was referring to your overly restrictive and difficult regulations...which you yourself have said are VERY difficult to work within. And as for rallying to support you...have you rallied for yourselves? Because generally those affected are the ones who start to rally (as we are doing in Ontario) and then others can support their cause. I have not heard anything about your conditions or that you are fighting to have these changed. If I did hear of such rallies, I would be supportive of fellow childcare providers trying to better conditions for themselves and the children in their care.
And yes, every profession goes through changes. And if the changes are truly for the better and increase safety or make things better in some way, then change is good. However, in this case, Bill 10 is not going to make children safer. Statistics in Ontario show that the death rate in licensed daycare is actually higher than in unlicensed. We have an excellent safety record...those of us who are following the current regulations. The current regulations work just fine. What is needed is more enforcement of the rules in order to crack down on those who are running illegal, over-ratio daycares...they are the ones who are causing problems. This Bill unfairly targets all private daycare providers while doing absolutely NOTHING to improve child safety. All it will do is create a daycare shortage and increase in rates. In fact, in some ways, I may be better off...I will have less children but charge more...less work for the same money. But I am fighting this bill because that will be so unfair to families who can barely afford daycare as it is. It will force them to put their children in illegal daycare to save money...and the children will suffer. That is my main reason for fighting this bill.

[sunnydays]

Crazy Eight...I think also that usually the cost of daycare is directly related to the cost of living in the area. So rent or mortgages in cities like Vancouver or Toronto are massive...so the cost of operating a daycare is also higher...thus higher fees.

[superfun]

That's true too. I hadn't thought of that, but as soon as the child is around 3, parents start to think about leaving for a preschool. Even if they're happy with the daycare, and the skills the kids are learning, it's just something parents do sometimes.
I have no issues with the under 2 rule either, because I really like my mix of 1 and 2 year olds.

[playfelt]

For me it is wondering where they get the under age 2 rule from in the sense that many daycare centres make the split at 18 months. If the rules were changed to two under 18 months I wouldn't have a problem with that because it allows for a bit of leeway when a space opens and kids are leaving for school and the next child doesn't turn 2 for another couple months - between 22 and 24 months not as much changes for a child. One of the reasons for avoiding the agencies was the age restrictions that meant we were spreading ourselves too think and not providing good care or ideal learning environment for anyone. Being able to concentrate on just infant/toddler or just preschool makes it much safer for everyone.

[Rachael]

Here you go...by province...now tell me NS is cheaper to live in than Ontario or Alberta. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...pis01j-eng.htm

[superfun]

I understand how difficult it would be to have to make these adjustments. If I were in your shoes I would be doing the exact same thing. However, the more I hear about your agencies, and the licensing rules, the more I appreciate the system in Manitoba.
To me as a complete outsider in this situation, it seems like everyone should be fighting for a licensing system run properly, and totally get rid of agencies. I get to offer my families daycare for $18 -20 /per day. If a family meets subsidy requirements, they pay me $2/day and the province sends me the difference. And every 3 months, I get an operating grant based on the number of spots I'm providing. So it puts me right back in line (income-wise) with providers charging $30/day. So I'm making more money than I was when I was private (and charging 30-35), with the way it worked out I'm able to have 4 paying preschool/infant spots, instead of two. My oldest daughter is in school full time but I wouldn't have been able to fill her spot without being over. Now she's using a school age spot and I can have a paying family in her place.

[torontokids]

I have said this before but I'll say it again. I don't know how anyone does this job for $25-30 a day. I am doing this because I want to be home with my kids but I don't think it would have interested me (or been financially manageable) at that fee. I charge $60 per day and I keep my number at 4 kids plus my daughter (my other daughter is now in JK). I'm not embarrassed at what I charge. I live downtown Toronto (have a $450, 000 mortgage, which was entry level price for a semi detached house 6 yrs a go), I have excellent credentials and I am market rate for the neighbourhood. I couldn't afford to pay that fee either when both my girls required care.

[superfun]

I don't know how the province decided the amount to pay in operating grants per spot, but I know it worked out for me when I did the math, and put my income back in line with the going rate around here. I do know that the operating grant was recently increased, and I believe it's supposed to increase again, but I never believe these things until it happens. I would assume that if the going rate around here was $60, then my provincially regulated fees would also be higher, or the grants increased accordingly.
That actually makes me appreciate the manitoba system more, because we have so much flexibility. If I wanted to be licensed, and have 5 preschool/infant spots, rather than 4, but I didn't want to charge the set rates, I can still do that. I could have set my own fees and not receive funding from the province.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm in MB and while I don't agree with the ratio rules, there isn't much I can do about it. I have spoke with head office and I have emailed and I encourage all parents when I can to do the same (to email and ask them to relook at the ratio rules and the age restrictions). With ON looking at decreasing their ratio, I can't see MB increasing theirs anytime soon though. It's unfortunate because I do think that no matter where you live and no matter what the rules are there will always be providers who run illegally. We could be allowed 12 kids and there will still be the ones who take 13 because "what's one more?" So while I appreciate the concept behind the rules, I do agree that they mean nothing. There are some providers who are more than capable of providing quality care for more than they are allowed and there are providers who shouldn't even have one child in their care.

I'm also curious as to what the consequences are for providers who run illegally in other provinces? Here in MB, there really isn't a huge consequence and I believe this is why there are so many who go over their numbers. If reported and caught, they are shut down immediately that day but they can re-open the next day as long as they are following ratio. A friend of mine in another city has a friend who was reported.....twice!! She runs illegally until she's caught, goes down in numbers for a bit and than starts to take on more kids again.

I also don't think it matters where we are or the cost of living.....if any one of us was told we had to immediately go down a child or two, that would be a huge loss of income. Yes of course the cost of living is more in downtown TO than it is here in MB but the loss of income is still the same. That is still a bill or two that now has the potential to not be paid.

Even though I don't like the MB ratio's (for private or licensed) I am grateful I live here because my cost of living is low, my 4 paying spots (at $32/day) bring in more than enough for me to live on and it works for us. I am also extremely lucky to be mortgage free though. However, if I had to drop a child that would annoy and scare me too!! Heck, that is part of the reason why I don't have my own child yet lol. I can't afford to pay my own daycare bill

[playfelt]

In all of the discussions of the changes in Ontario what is getting lost is the fact that it is "CHANGES". People got into daycare knowing what the rules were and made a family budget and made the move to home daycare knowing how their family would be impacted. Now the rules are changing and that is what the protest is about more than what the changes are too. I know other provinces have some even stricter rules but you knew those going in and could decide if it was the right decision for your family. If the new rules had been in place in Ontario the providers now facing closing their doors because of the unplanned loss of income due to lost spaces would never be happening.