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More Nova Scotians will get help with day-care costs thanks to 50 new subsidized child-care spaces announced Tuesday by Community Services Minister David Morse. Local day-care operators were delighted to hear the news.
The new spaces, or seats, are portable, meaning the funding can be used at a facility of the parents' choice until the child turns 12, and they go with the child if the family moves.
Ms. McGowan said the parents of two of the 75 children at her day care rely on subsidies, and she gets about 10 calls per week from others looking for portable subsidized spaces. She charges $25 per day to look after children full time.
While the seats won't clear the two-year backlog, Ms. McGowan said they will definitely help.
Mr. Morse made the announcement in a day-care centre at the Akerley campus of Nova Scotia Community College.
The facility is one of five in metro Halifax operated by St. Joseph's College of Early Childhood Education. They serve as a training ground and resource centre for child-care workers while looking after kids.
The spaces, subsidized at $14.95 a day, are provided by the federal-provincial Early Childhood Development Initiative.
Mr. Morse said the seats would be handed out depending on the circumstances. "If your situation is deemed to be the neediest, then you will get the first of the 50 spaces."
The new spaces bring the total number of portable subsidized seats in the province to 278. The province funds a total of 2,706 day-care spaces.
- reprinted from the Chronicle-Herald