Excerpts
A Corner Brook mom has faced ongoing challenges securing care for her two children, despite signing up for every childcare option available by the time she was 12 weeks pregnant.
“I never got a call from anyone for my son, who is nearly seven years old. He was also wiped from some lists when I called to check in,” Robin Stuckey said.
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Financial and work pressures
The lack of consistent childcare has forced Stuckey and her partner to take turns off work, often unpaid.
“Not being able to find consistent childcare means using up all vacation, family, and sick days at work to cover caring for our children, and that’s on top of snow days and sick days we already had to take off,” she said.
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Even when she found unregulated options, the cost and reliability were barriers.
Stuckey said the first unregulated childcare option they found worked for a year, but the $800-a-month cost was not sustainable.
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Impact on family planning and wellbeing
Childcare challenges have also shaped family decisions and mental health.
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Challenges with waitlists
Stuckey also described long delays and inconsistent communication from government waitlists.
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For the government web gateway, her daughter was removed from every list and had to be re-signed up manually.
“If we weren’t fast enough signing up online, even people below us were now above us. That one year waiting was for nothing,” Stuckey said.
“It’s been one of the biggest stressors as a parent. I worry about calling in sick, about getting a full paycheck to make ends meet, and about trying to find someone to watch our kids when maternity leave ends,” she said.
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Federal-provincial support crucial for childcare expansion
Meredith Loveys, a member of the steering committee with Child Care Now NL, was surprised by the provincial government’s announcement that the $10-a-day childcare program will continue into the 2026–2027 fiscal year.
“We did sign the federal–provincial agreement last year, and there was already an agreement in place to continue for several more years,” Loveys said.
“The fact that an announcement had to be made shows how many people are concerned that the program might end, especially given the recent stall in expansion over the last few months.”
Child Care Now NL is a federal volunteer advocacy group supporting parents, early childhood educators (ECEs), and affordable, high-quality childcare.
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