Elspeth Chalmers –
Finding daycare in Toronto is like running a marathon — except no one tells you when the race starts.
Parents register before their baby is even born, but securing an infant spot still requires a miracle. The alternative? Pay out of pocket for daycare outside the federally supported $10-a-day program or extend parental leave without pay. For many Torontonians already stretched thin, neither is viable.
In the Downtown East, the problem is even worse. Demand is sky-high, with waitlists in the hundreds for popular spots such as the BrightPath Academy in Leslieville.
Yet even a short waitlist doesn’t guarantee a spot. Parents hedge their bets by registering at multiple daycares, and queue-jumping is common. Siblings, other family connections and persistent parents can sometimes find ways to jump the queue.
Is there a better way?
In my conversations with local parents, many dream of a centralized system that allows families to rank their daycare choices and join a unified waitlist for all federally registered Early Learning and Child Care providers in their ward. Spaces could be assigned as they open up, reducing redundancy and uncertainty.
But as with so much of the system, the burden falls on parents and daycare providers to navigate an opaque and inconsistent process. Determining whether a daycare participates in the $10-a-day program is complicated, and there’s no guarantee a daycare will stay in the program.
Last October, many providers pulled out of the federal program. According to CBC reports, daycares were concerned about underfunding, saying they couldn’t cover costs for special programming or additional staff. Parents who thought they had secured an affordable spot were left with sky-high daycare costs and another long wait for a comparable spot.
If governments are serious about accessible childcare, they need to make it functional, fair and transparent – as well as affordable. Until then, parents will continue playing an unwinnable game, hoping their number gets called before their savings run
