Childcare Crisis in BC

Coastal Front

According to a UNICEF report, Canada has one of the best educational systems in the world... for kids over five. For kids under five, we have one of the worst systems in the developed world in terms of quality and availability.

But the childcare crisis is nothing new. Early childhood education has been unaffordable and inaccessible for decades. It's one of the biggest causes of stress for parents of young children, with long waitlists and many households going into debt so they can afford it.

Karin Kirkpatrick, MLA for West Vancouver - Capilano, and Pamela Wallberg, CEO of Alderwood House School, join Coastal Front to enlighten us on the childcare crisis in BC.

The recent budget suggests the NDP is pinning its hopes on the federal government to deliver on promise of $10-a-day daycare. But is the intention to cap fees having a negative effect? Pamela explains how operators are closing spaces because of staffing shortages or delaying plans to create more spots because it is no longer financially feasible to do so. Meanwhile, Karin estimates the fee cap could cause BC to lose 4,000 future child care spaces.