Centralized childcare waitlist coming to Nova Scotia

A centralized child-care waitlist is coming to Nova Scotia.

Accessing childcare in Nova Scotia remains a challenge for many families, and operators like the YWCA of Halifax say without a centralized waitlist, it can lead to anxiety for parents who are looking for a spot for their child.

The waitlist at the YWCA is around 600 people, the majority of them are infants according to CEO Miia Suokonautio.

Suokonautio was a witness at a legislative committee meeting examining the Canada and Nova Scotia Early Child Care Agreement on Wednesday.

She calls the current process for finding childcare like something out the “wild west” where families have to call and reach out to specific operators and get on a list and wait it out.

Suokonautio says out of the families on the waitlist, they have no idea how many have already received care or are on different waiting lists.

Creating a centralized waitlist should have been step one, says Suokonautio, given the province is undertaking a transformative change to the way childcare is offered.

Suokonautio told the committee without data showing who is waiting for care and where, operators are having difficulty planning where they need to grow or expand spaces to meet the demand.

“Without the data and the waitlist management system, we have not been able to make a thoughtful planning process,” she says. “And providers are left to trust that there’s going to be demand. So, we are investing in and signing agreements to operate centers, hoping that we will get to full enrolment and that we can cover the costs.”

The province says a centralized waitlist is coming and more than $8 million has been budgeted to create a digital hub, which government expects to be up and running by 2028.

Tracey Barbrick, the province’s deputy minister with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says the Request for Proposals (RFP) just went out and they are scoring submissions, so the process is underway.

“And it will have the capacity to do a waitlist,” says Barbrick.

Since overhauling the childcare system in 2021, the province has been focusing on growing the workforce and available childcare spaces while making it more affordable, according to Barbrick.

Although the province hasn’t met the $10 a day target, they say they’re meeting the childcare space target and will have created nearly 10,500 new spaces by 2027.

“Some jurisdictions have made it to $10 a day on average by prioritizing lowering fees, others like us have focused on space creation and workforce supports,” said Barbrick.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development provided average costs of childcare per day across four age groups:

• infants: $18.60
• toddlers: $18.20
• pre-schoolers: $17.80
• school age: $10.50

The province says more federal funding will be required to help meet the affordability target, and discussions with Ottawa are ongoing.

“Our team is regularly involved in those discussions. We don’t have an outcome of that. So, it would be premature for me to comment on where I think it might be going, but the conversations are still active,” said Barbrick.

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