Shortage of daycare spots causing panic for some Nova Scotia parents

Children's backpacks and shoes are seen at an Early Learning daycare, in Langley, B.C., on May 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A Dartmouth mother of 11-month-old twins said she's left panicked and scrambling to find daycare after losing the child care spots she had secured and paid a deposit for.

Kayleigh Fleet said that when she began applying to daycare centres when she was 20-weeks pregnant with her twins it became clear that demand in the Halifax area was much greater now than it was when her stepsons, aged 11 and 8, were getting enrolled in daycare.

That's why in November 2022, Fleet said she was thrilled when she secured spots for her two babies at a Kids & Company centre. She said she paid a deposit of more than $2,000 and was told that two spots for Aug. 1 were secured. Fleet said she was especially happy to have found a daycare with extended hours that would allow her to return to work as a longshoreman at a nearby container pier.

“It was great, it was like the stars aligned,” Fleet said

When Fleet reached out to the child-care centre in early June, just over seven weeks out from the planned start date, she was told the spots were not available at any of the three nearby Kids & Company locations and her deposit would be returned.

“I was just completely panicking,” she said.

Fleet has so far not had any luck in securing new child care that works for her family.

“I'm hoping something comes up, but if not … I'm hoping that I can pay for a private nanny until something comes up,” she said.

“But I'm at the point now where I’m asking myself, do I stay home with my kids and let my bills fall behind?”

Sue Purser, chief operating officer for Kids & Company, said in an email Thursday the centre is experiencing challenges with limited available spots.

“We feel really badly about this parent not having access to child care with us and are actively exploring solutions to increase child-care spaces to address the demand for care,” Purser said in an email.

Last June, Education Minister Becky Druhan said the province would create 1,500 new daycare spots within six months — by the end of 2022 — funded in part by a $605-million daycare agreement between the province and the federal government.

A Department of Early Childhood Education spokesperson said 1,319 new child-care spaces have been created in licensed centres and family homes since July 2021 — though 884 spots have been lost due to centre closures.

“This gives us a net increase of 435 spaces,” Carole Rankin said in an email.

Purser said the recent rollout of new federal child-care funding has had an “overwhelmingly positive effect, but it has quickly disrupted the way we manage our child-care spaces.”

Until recently, Purser said the centres have been able to accurately predict how long most children will remain in care, meaning facilities can register new families accordingly.

The new federal program, which is set to gradually reduce child-care costs to reach $10-a-day by March 2026 “has impacted the average time children are with us, meaning fewer spaces for new children are available,” Purser said.

In a statement on July 18, the Nova Scotia NDP’s education and early childhood development spokesperson Suzy Hansen criticized the government’s lack of action in addressing child-care challenges.

“We hear from people every week about the stress they’re under trying to find child care for their children,” Hansen said.

“The premier and his Minister of Education make lots of promises, but when it comes down to it, very few new spots have actually opened, and many have closed for good. They have to do more to help operators grow and keep their doors open, and help parents find the affordable child care they need, in their community."

Rankin, on behalf of the Education and Early Childhood Development Department said "we know Nova Scotia is in high demand for child-care, and we are just getting started."

"We are working on an updated expansion plan to add more child-care spaces across the province."