Quote Originally Posted by Fun&care View Post
The way I've worded it in my contract, and I'm paraphrasing but it's something along the lines of the deposit being NON-REFUNDABLE and that basically you get it back in CARE not cash. However if I decided to drop a family without notice I would give their deposit back as the care option is no longer available.

If you gave them two weeks notice and they decided to pull out early, then too bad for them. You are offering care but they are the ones choosing not to use it. The deposit is for these exact types of situations.
You have to be very, very careful in Canada how you term the conditions for a deposit.

Legally, if you take a deposit for a service, whether that is day care, photography, painting a house or any service related action, then that service must be delivered or the deposit is fully refundable regardless of what your contracts say.

i.e. If a bride and groom pay a deposit for wedding photography and that deposit is held as part-payment for the photography, if the wedding is then cancelled, the service wasn't delivered and therefore the deposit has to be returned. Even if the contract and receipt state non-refundable. If however, your contracts state the deposit is non-refundable and to hold a date/place, that's different. If you hold that place and the parents decide not to come, you can legally keep the money. If you charge a deposit for day care, you cannot keep the money, because the service didn't happen. See?