Excerpts
Officials are urging municipalities in Peterborough County to offer any underused space or surplus land to help create more child-care spaces as demand continues to grow.
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Nancy Fisher, project consultant for the Peterborough Childcare Expansion plan, reported that at the end of 2023, there were approximately 4,400 licensed child-care spaces among 59 sites. There were also 73 licensed home child-care providers.
However, as of April 2024, there are 3,700 children in the city and county on a wait-list for a child-care service, Fisher says.
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Within the county (consisting of eight townships), there are currently 1,472 spaces, with 1,128 children on a wait-list. Some townships, such as Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, have wait-lists that exceed the spaces available, Fisher noted.
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Fisher asked county councillors to look into any municipally owned buildings and land space that might be available to help create new child-care spaces.
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One main concern is if the new spaces aren’t offered, the program loses government funding each year — estimated at up to $3 million.
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Selwyn Township Mayor Sherry Senis said one option in her township could be the former Ridpath Junior Public School building in Lakefield that currently sits vacant. However, she noted the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has stated it may reuse the building in the future.
“In the interim, it could be the perfect spot,” she said. “It’s sitting there empty and it’s a crying shame.”
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County warden Bonnie Clark says one concern that needs to be addressed is improved wages for early childhood educators. She says it’s likely preventing existing child-care sites from expanding if they can’t attract staff.
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Child-care funding
Fisher notes that in March 2022, child services locally “changed” and demand began to spike after Ontario entered into a $13.2-billion Canada-wide early learning and child-care agreement. The deal includes the goal of lowering child-care fees to $10 per day for children ages five and under.
Before the announcement, there were 2,200 city and county children on a wait-list — a number that has ballooned 60 per cent in five years.
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At the time of the agreement, Fisher said the average daily cost for a child was $42.
“We are halfway there now — we are down to $21 per day,” she said. “By 2026 the goal is to be at $10 per day.”
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