Several daycares in Edmonton were closed Tuesday to join others across the province protesting the $10/day child-care program.
The exact number of facilities provincewide participating in the rolling closures organized by the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs (AACE) is not known, however AACE confirmed at least four in the capital city.
"It was a very tough decision. We were very emotional [about] how the families were going to handle it," Bright Start Day Care owner Gagandeep Chohan told CTV News Edmonton.
On Tuesday, the association issued a letter to employers to inform them that the closures may affect employees' ability to attend work and apologize for the disruption.
In the letter, AACE said while the $10/day program was announced with "noble intention," it has created "significant financial burdens" on operators.
It is calling the closures a last resort to get the attention of both levels of government, as well as parents, about their concerns over the payment structure and rates that were frozen below inflation.
According to AACE, daycare owners are waiting more than a month for the province to dole out the funds from the federal government, causing them delays paying staff and other operating expenses.
"The difference is: before, the majority of our revenue was coming from parents and only some portion in subsidy form was coming from government – that was 45 days behind. We were OK; we were able to manage because that was a very small amount," Chohan explained.
"But now, with 80 to 90 per cent of revenue coming from government, only $10 a day coming from parents, and the payment – let's say for the month of January will be in mid-February – how are we able to manage?"
On Friday, AACE chair Krystal Churcher told CTV News Edmonton child-care operators felt "caught in the middle of two completely different styles of government that are trying to find a way to create a new program with different goals."
AACE has asked the Alberta government to provide emergency funding and the federal government to re-assess the program's "billion-dollar underfunding and inflexible policies."
Chohan said her business could need to cut staff or programming if the current model continues. Her employees and families are worried.
"[Staff] have been asking: 'Are you going to change staffing?' And even parents have been asking, 'Are you going to change staffing?'" she said.
Her employee, Arnie Patalinjug, who has worked at Bright Start since 2011 and whose youngest daughter continues to be cared for there, said, "That's the reason why we're fighting for this. To maintain the quality of the services that we provide… that is always our top priority."
In a statement Tuesday morning, Alberta's minister of children and family services reiterated his support for the province's collaboration with Ottawa to provide $10/day child care.
"It is disappointing that a small number of child care programs who do not support $10 per day care are choosing to scare families with random closures instead of engaging in good faith on the development of a new early learning and child care funding formula," Minister Searle Turton said.
But later that day, Premier Danielle Smith announced she'd request a meeting with Ottawa to "urge" the Canadian government to "consider changes that would support operators facing inflationary pressures."
"The current cost control framework established by the federal government does not recognize the inflationary pressures child care operators are facing," she said, blaming inflation on federal spending.
"If the federal government doesn’t meet us at the table we will ensure Albertans can continue to access an affordable and sustainable child care system our way."
A spokesperson for the federal government told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday it is committed to the program's success and working closely with provinces, stakeholders and families, but said questions about the funding model should be directed to the Alberta government.
"Any requirements a [province] may put in place regarding the provision of funding to operators is at their discretion, provided these requirements meet the terms and conditions outlined in the Canada-wide Agreements including, in the case of Alberta, the Cost Control Framework and For-Profit Expansion Plan. As such, any specific questions regarding how Alberta is implementing the Canada-wide Agreement, or how it manages fees for child care providers, should be directed to Alberta’s Ministry of Children’s Services."
AACE's chair said she was pleased with Smith's response to the closures.
"We've decided to take a short pause on further action to reassess and get more details on the government's response," Churcher said.
"While we are relieved to hear the premier will take decisive action, the struggle is far from over for the childcare industry."
Despite AACE notifying families on Monday of the closures, some Edmonton parents learned their site was closed only after arriving to drop off their children.
At least two families arrived at Bright Start to find a notice posted on the locked front door.
One mother, Lucy, told CTV News Edmonton she was unaware of both the closures and daycare association's concerns.
She brings her son Daxton to daycare in the mornings while she's in class.
"It's a good time for me to bring my son to daycare so that I can do my assignments. You know, with a two-year-old son, you can't do much, right?" she said.
"I don't know what I'm going to do today."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Lampa, Evan Klippenstein and Chelan Skulski
