Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., mother left scrambling for daycare spot as YMCA prepares to close

A Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., mother says she was devastated when she got the news the city's YMCA would close, leaving her daughter without a daycare spot.

Danica Boissoneau got on the city's daycare wait-list 12 weeks into her pregnancy and had to find an interimprovider before her daughter got into the YMCA's site in February.

On April 16, the YMCA of Sault Ste. Marie announced it would close its doors on May 15 due to increased operational costs, inflation and a slow return to pre-COVID-19gym memberships.

The YMCA runs daycare centres with a total of 560 spots. Now,parents like Boissoneauare scrambling to find alternatives.

"To find out that, you know, they might be closing and we might be losing our spot, and we'd be back at ground zero scrambling to try to find another spot; it was very alarming considering the state of crisis that is our child-care wait-list," Boissoneau said.

She saidthe YMCA was near the top of her list because their daycare offered spots for infants under 18 months of age and was close to her work.

For now, she and her fianc will wait to see if another provider is able to take over the YMCA's child care spots.

140 daycare spots at greater risk

The District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) funds the city's daycare system and provides oversight.

DSSAB CEO Mike Nadeau said140 of the YMCA's daycare spots were located at the YMCA building due to close this month.

"Unfortunately, it will take us some time to build those spaces back up and we will need additional investment from the province of Ontario, quite frankly," he said.

The YMCA also ran an additional 420 daycare spots at different schools across the Sault.

Nadeau saidhe's less concerned about those spots.

"The infrastructure is publicly owned so we can get another provider to go into those spaces."

At a city council meeting on April 29, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said there was a solution presented to the YMCA that "shows some promise."

"It will take some time to get through the various due diligence hurdles and determine if it is viable," he said.