Issues with access to early childhood care have locals frustrated with the province

Over the past year, communities across the Westshore have complained about the difficulty in accessing appropriate educational institutes for children. Now, parents and educators are calling for action to mend the underfunded, over-restricted, and difficult to access daycare centres.

Early and infant childhood educator Janine Bolton, the owner of Victoria Kids Out and About, says this issue has been a problem for a number of years and as a Westshore facility, the complications deepen.

“Unfortunately, we saw this coming ages ago and now we're at a crisis point,” says Bolton. “There's a few factors to it: burnout is huge for staff, I know wages are a big problem, as well as zoning and licensing.”

With a number of intertwined issues, many are frustrated with the government's ability to prioritize early childcare.

Shortage of childcare workers

On Jan. 11, the Early Childhood Educators of BC (ECEBC) released the Evaluation of the Early Care and Learning Recruitment and Retention Strategy in British Columbia Report — the findings implied a lack of support financially, emotionally, and physically in early childhood education centres.

ECL professionals are paid $7/hour less than similarly educated adults in BC, and 45% of employers are losing staff quicker than they can hire them. Many educators have left their jobs due to low pay, lack of benefits, and poor working conditions. While the province has attempted to help both families and parents through its $10 funding program, that poses concern for educators as well.

“I worked for a non-profit for years, so I was all for it,” says Bolton. “The unfortunate part of the $10 a day program is if you sign up for it, you're bound to that contract; you cannot raise your fees, you cannot increase your wages to your staff.”

Despite the lack of support, 85% of British Columbians believe that childcare workers are essential to the development of children. Because so many parents believe in the system, it is difficult for them when they cannot access facilities due to the shortage of workers, but also the lack of centres themselves.

“Finding an early early childhood educator, which is your basic, is hard enough, but finding an infant toddler certified educator is like finding a leprechaun riding a unicorn,” says Bolton. “What most providers are doing now is we're funding the cost for workers to obtain their courses so they can get certified as an infant toddler educator, which is $650 a course.”

Zoning bylaws restrict building availability

Zoning and building permits are overseen by the provincial government, and are another source of stress for early educators looking to open a daycare. With multiple restrictions on the type of care centre opened in a zone, the building permit process, and the overall lengthy process, people with the desire to open a daycare operation struggle to push through the paperwork.

“I have contacted several MLAs about revisiting our licensing regulations because we're the only province in Canada that has such strict rules,” says Bolton.

Just recently, Colwood denied a rezoning application sent in by Alphabet Zoo Early Learning Centre on the recommendation of city staff and neighbouring residents. Although the process was done to maintain the wellbeing of the community, it highlights the difficulty in gaining access to property or services.

“It takes up to two years to get a decision with no guarantees,” says Bolton. “If you're sitting there and you're paying a mortgage or commercial lease prices and waiting for approval, it could financially haemorrhage you; Colwood is one of the hardest municipalities next to View Royal to get any kind of zoning changes for anything, period.”

Defining proper childcare for specific age groups

Because of the ratio of children to providers, many daycare providers struggle to accept parents' children as students. The province created the Child Care Licensing Regulation, which highlights the restrictions and necessities in operating a daycare, something that many in the community have found difficult to navigate.

“Our ratio in a large facility like mine is one staff to four children,” says Bolton. “If you're talking about family daycares, there's one person to 7 to 8 kids and they usually run 10 hours a day by themselves.”

Along with ratios, there are also specific features and equipment that providers need to have. Bolton understands the licensing, but mentions the province needs to reevaluate the definitions.

“It’s not that I don't think they need to be in place, because they're there for a reason,” says Bolton. For example, with the infant toddler care, you're required to have one toilet, one sink for every 10 children in care—if you factor that most six to 18 months are still in diapers, why do they require a toilet and sink?”

While the province has set up a number of programs, with affordability and the economy, communities are pushing for change. Because childcare for infants and toddlers is much more difficult to initiate, Bolton says that communities need to come together to be able to see the difference.

“It's difficult for us to rally unless it's directly impacting [people]—we need more.”