New daycare in Sydney, N.S., to provide 50 spaces for children of health-care providers

Natalie MacDonald didn't have an easy time getting her youngest child into daycare, and says it's no secret that child care spots in the Sydney, N.S., area are at a premium.

"The talk in the community is you put a child on a wait list before they're even born,” MacDonald said Monday at the unveiling of what will be a new 50-space daycare on Churchill Drive in Sydney.

MacDonald works at the YMCA of Cape Breton but still had to wait two years for her now three-year-old daughter to get into the Y's daycare in downtown Sydney.

"I do have a lot of friends who work in the health-care community as well, and I know that there is a need for child care regardless of where you're working,” MacDonald said.

"It has become a huge issue of recruitment and retention of our health-care workers,” said Cheryl Deveaux, administrator and CEO at The Cove Guest Home.

Proponents of the new daycare say its 50 spots will be for children whose caregivers work at The Cove, and three other nearby nursing homes – MacGillivray Guest Home, Harbourstone Enhanced Care and Celtic Court.

"They're not able to come to work on a consistent basis because of the lack of child-care spots,” Deveaux said. “So this is to fill that gap in the community."

"We expanded to 70 spaces recently, and we still have over 300 children on our wait list,” said Sabrina Vatcher, CEO of YMCA of Cape Breton CEO.

The local YMCA got involved after responding to an expression of interest by the province in fall 2021 to try and grow child-care spaces in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM).

As for the increase in demand, some point to purported population growth. Vatcher also offered another explanation.

"Because the province is moving forward with their $10-a-day child care come spring of 2026,” Vatcher said. “Just being able to afford child care as a parent working here in the CBRM might have been a barrier in the past."

Deveaux said the total budget for the new daycare build is $2.7 million and it is expected to open in the spring. She noted the daycare’s hours will reflect the needs of health-care providers who have differing shifts.

“We will be doing extended hours. We will be doing the holidays, and seven days a week,” Deveaux said.

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