EXCERPTS:
The lists are long and the frustrations can be endless when it comes to finding daycare spots in Winnipeg.
Two Winnipeg moms finally got fed up and have decided to open a new, licensed, non-government subsidized centre this fall.
Making Roots Montessori Centre co-founder, Megan Turner, told Global News, in the time it took for her child to finally reach the top of the waitlist she was able to find $350,000, get an early childhood education degree and be one month from opening her own childcare centre.
“It was easier to actually build a childcare facility then to find a spot in the province,” said Turner.
As of June 28th, there are 11,415 names on the provincial childcare wait list.
It’s a problem that has forced many parents to enroll their kids at a number of unlicensed daycare facilities around the province.
Making Roots is set to open its doors on September 16th and will provide full-day, licensed child care for 32 children aged two to five-years-old.
Her business partner Kristen Shipman-Adams said, “we wanted to be able to provide more childcare spots to alleviate some of the pressure that the province has.”
The province said wait lists vary from a few weeks to a few months, however many parents who spoke to Global News said they waited 4 to 5 years before they were able to find a spot.
Many parents register their children before they are born and some before they get pregnant.
“If you wait till your baby is born then who knows how long it will take,” said one mom.
The province said it has invested more than $37 million in new childcare centres or expansions since 2008.
“Any wait is too long with a lot of uncertainty. That’s why we are investing in providing more spaces,” said Minister of Family Services, Jennifer Howard. “That’s why we continue to invest in that even when there is great economic uncertainty in the province.”
The difference in costs between private and provincially- subsidized can be significant.
Making Roots Montessori Centre will set parents back nearly $65 per day, however, there are spaces available right now.
-reprinted from Global News