Kitchener has middling rank in child care affordability study

Mothers in Kitchener with children in regulated child care centres spend30 per cent of their income on daycare, suggests a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Locals can expect to pay about$933 for care for infants under 18 months, $890 for toddlers and $846 for preschool-aged children.

Kitchener has a narrower range of preschool fees compared to other cities, meaning costs don't fluctuate as much from centre to centre, the report says.The studys co-author, DavidMacdonald, said he wasn't entirely surewhy this is the case, but said it's likely because there are far fewer centres in Kitchener than in a city like Toronto.

Cities in theGreater Toronto Area had some of the highest fees, withTorontonianspaying a median$1,676 for infant care, $1,324 for toddlers and $998 for preschoolers.

The report developed an affordability index for daycare that found Brampton, just west of Toronto, is the least affordable municipality,and Gatineau, Que., as the most.

The index compares the median costs of fully licensed child-care centres and licensed family child-care to the average income of working mothers.

Although fees in Brampton are lower than those in Toronto, incomes there are much lower. Therefore,36 per cent of a womans income, or the equivalent of four months of work, goes to daycare fees, the highest proportion for all municipalities studied.

Gatineauand other Quebec cities had the lowest daycare costs because they are heavily subsidized.

Unlicensed daycares 'a big exclusion'

The report only studied licensed day care centres "due to the difficulties in surveying unlicensed child care services."

"There is a big exclusion here," saidMacdonald. "And that is the unlicensed sector that a lot of parents rely on."

And the rules for those unlicensed child care centres are set to change.

Ontario's Liberal government is aiming to introduce new legislation thatwill put caps on unregulated childcare in the province,creating a higher staff-to-child ratio. Bill 10, also known as the Childcare Modernization Act, passed second reading at the legislature last week.

The proposed changes include increasing the number of spaces in licensed homedaycaresand limiting the number of children under two in homedaycares.

The Coalition of Independent Childcare Providers of Ontario is protesting Bill 10, saying it will reduce affordability and accessibility. Some of those daycare providersprotested the bill outside Education Minister Liz Sandal's office in Guelph onSunday.

ErinPrendergast, who runs a daycare centre,would have to turn away two of the four infants she cares for if Bill 10 is passed.

The bill would only increased demand for unlicensed daycares, she told CBC News at the protest, "because the prices in legal daycare are going to go up."

The proposed changes "might increase the cost," saidMacdonald. "It might also increase the wait time for people to try to access child care."

But thoughMacdonaldsaid regulation has the potential todrive upcosts, they can be abated. He said the system in Quebec is entirelyregulated, yet the province has the lowest child care feesbecause of government subsidies.

He says it's possible Ontario may follow in Quebec's footsteps, saying the province's move towardfull-day kindergarten is one initiative to help drive down child care costs.

"Because the province has expanded[junior kindergarten] down to cover that age group, you end up with essentially free child care for those children that fall into that category."