Limits in Your Province/Territory. please

[CrazyEight]

Rachael, it's a pretty generalized statement to say that Ontario's fees are $10-$15 higher than yours. In Toronto maybe, but I'm in Belleville, a city of 50,000, and I charge between $30-$35, depending on age/hours. You can't be $10-$15 below that. Even Ottawa is between $35-$50/day, depending on where you are. It's the huge cities, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, that have massively inflated daycare costs. The vast majority of us are pretty much in line with the rest of the country.

[Rachael]

Rachael, it's a pretty generalized statement to say that Ontario's fees are $10-$15 higher than yours. In Toronto maybe, but I'm in Belleville, a city of 50,000, and I charge between $30-$35, depending on age/hours. You can't be $10-$15 below that. Even Ottawa is between $35-$50/day, depending on where you are. It's the huge cities, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, that have massively inflated daycare costs. The vast majority of us are pretty much in line with the rest of the country.

Bear in mind - Halifax IS A CITY so it's fair to compare city rates. It's the capital of NS, it's where the work is, and it's the only main airport in the Maritimes.

I am the top level at $35.00 in the city. Outside the city it's around $25 a day. There's people just 15 mins outside Halifax charging $22 a day with snacks and lunch for 6am until 6pm, with receipts!

Direct cut and pastes from local Kijiji Ads and a local FB page...

"My name is Tammy and I have been taking kids into my home for over 8 years. I currently have one or two spots available either full or part time. I provide lunch and two snacks per day and charge $25 for full days and $15 for half days. If you have any questions or would like more information please let me know."

"Starting in July 2015 I will have 3 spots available in my home for childcare. I've decided to be a stay at home mom with my 3yr old boy and my 3month old girl. $25 a day will include all meals and snacks (breakfast and lunch) crafts and lots of activities for all ages, indoor and outdoors. I'm 28 yrs old and have Studied Human Services Educational Support and have lots of experinece with children of all ages. I'm located in Newport Station just a few minutes outside Windsor. Please contact me for more information!"

"Fun and Reliable Childcare
Hi everyone. My name is Tania and I am offering childcare within my home. I am a mother of 3 lovely ladies and have 15+ years childcare experience.
I am located in Shearwater and my home is smoke free. I have a fenced in yard, and large activity area within my home.
I am offering spots for both Fulltime and Partime care. I offer semi-structured care, included will be various activites, outside playtime, crafts and nap/quiet time. I will also be including 2 snacks and lunch in my rate for full time. I am looking to care for children from infants to 5yrs.
My rate is daily $22 for Fulltime and part-time would be $15 per day.
Childcare is something I am passionate about and so happy to be able start this venture and maybe create it into something more. If you need someone to help you out with your childcare needs please feel free to contact me to get more information.
Thanks
Pictures of my home in comments!"

"Looking for childcare? Look no further! on Kijiji http://www.kijiji.ca/…/looking-for-c...30;/1021791431

Looking for childcare? Look no further! | child care | City of Halifax | Kijiji
i am offering part-time, full-time or before/after school care from my lower sackville home. $25/day or $12...
WWW.KIJIJI.CA"

So your $35 for outside the city rates, less our $22-$25 for outside the city rates, is indeed a difference of between $10-$15 as stated.

I'm in the city boundaries hence I am $35 and as you said, for other cities, even Ottawa it would be between $35 and $50.

Inidentally, compare the cost of living in Halifax and Ottawa and then consider our income levels.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...a&city2=Ottawa

http://lisaschuyler.com/index.php/20...n-nova-scotia/

[sunnydays]

Rachael, I just have one question...how do you manage to make ends meet??? I don't think I could be a daycare provider under the conditions you described. It is a hard and important job and we all deserve to be able to make a decent living doing it. I understand why you don't sympathize with us in Ontario...but maybe instead of being happy that we are being dragged down to your level...you and others in provinces where things are tough could fight for some changes so that you could be brought up to a level where you could actually make a decent living doing what you love. I don't think it's too much to ask.

[Rachael]

Rachael, I just have one question...how do you manage to make ends meet??? I don't think I could be a daycare provider under the conditions you described. It is a hard and important job and we all deserve to be able to make a decent living doing it. I understand why you don't sympathize with us in Ontario...but maybe instead of being happy that we are being dragged down to your level...you and others in provinces where things are tough could fight for some changes so that you could be brought up to a level where you could actually make a decent living doing what you love. I don't think it's too much to ask.

How do I manage to make ends meet? By going without, like the rest of the Province! LOL You are forgetting that the options you have, we don't. Seasonal lobster fishing, seasonal scallop fishing, IT industry which earns half of the major cities - hence the employment migration West. We manage because we have to!

If you have to pay mortgage to keep your house, power to heat it, water to drink/wash, property taxes, insurance, etc then you learn to get rid of things that are wants not needs - many families have ONE car or use public transport if it's available in their area (not all areas have it), you cook at home, you don't have expensive clothes, your minimize outgoings.

We haven't had a vacation in over 10 years, I don't smoke or drink or go out unless it's for a birthday meal for one of my son's. Christmas my budget is $200 per child MAX, birthday's it's $100. Horrible as it is to say, because I have no family here, I only have to worry about myself and my two sons. Essentially, I get up work, pay my bills and go back to bed.

When my husband died, we had only been here a year and therefore I didn't have the connections which you'd normally hope for in that situation. I was determined to keep my children in the house, in the community, and be here for them which I had been as a stay at home parent. There are only so many changes children can manage at once and having moved continents and lost a parent, I was determined to minimize the others.

I am lucky in the sense, my mortgage is manageable compared to renting prices - bear in mind, we have more than 4 universities, so rental demand is high and expensive. I had to keep the house at all costs or we'd have been in serious trouble.

If I quit the day care and went to work outside the house, I'd be on minimum wage for the first few years anyway - simple, it wouldn't cover the bills if I had min wage x 40 hours or less as here, the min wage jobs are often part-time. By running the day care although the money is awful, I do know that I can deduct a certain percentage of household bills. Without that, I wouldn't make ends meet. If I earning min wage outside the house and wasn't able to claim a percentage of our power, water, etc, I'd have been on the streets years ago.

We make it work because there's no other option - and I am not the only one facing these challenges. I know plenty of two adult households here in the exact same situation.

And - you are rather twisting my words to say I am HAPPY you are being put in the same situation. If you look back, I said it was hard to sympathise with Ontario providers concerns.

Right now, Bill 10 is a maybe. It hasn't passed. So you are facing the potential of the challenges which are our reality. You might be placed in the same situation that the rest of the country is in. I did not once say I was happy your income would be cut but I did say, and stand by my comment, that it's hard to sympathise when we've been it that situation for years. Essentially, you've had it good for a long time, but no one seems to say "Oh well, compared to everyone else, we've had a good run. Now I guess we are in the same boat as the others".

I'm sorry but some people in the wealthier provinces are under this illusion that their costs of living are higher, the client base is only available for a few short years, that Bill 10 will make it impossible to earn a living - and there is the expectation that the whole country is concerned about Bill 10 and it's effects. The reality is, your costs of living are actually far lower than many poorer provinces, our client base is only available for the same time span just for different reasons, we deal with higher turnover and so less stable client bases because of the employment migration out of province too.

As I said, I didn't state I was happy about you being in the same situation but it's is hard to be sympathetic when you are merely being brought into line with the rest of the country - and it's not even a certainty.

Interesting that you view it as "being dragged down" vs the playing field being evened.

It's quite a vicious comment that you view yourself as higher than the rest of us - but very telling.

More so, twisting your own view that we should be more sympathetic to your situation - I didn't see you petitioning for changes for the rest of the county to be brought up to Ontario's level - only when it's you coming down is there noise and concern and expectation we are all sympathetic to your cause. Perhaps, if I'd seen an equal amount of concern for the rest of us being on these limits prior to Bill 10, I'd feel differently.