As waitlist grows, province announces just three new childcare spaces for the Sault

Sault Ste. Marie's provincially funded childcare expansion falls short, with only 3 of 30 expected spots added this year. Cory Nordstrom explains.

The number of provincially funded childcare spots is expanding in Sault Ste. Marie, however, it’s just a small fraction of the spaces that were expected.

Officials with the local social services board said they are frustrated, as their childcare waitlist has grown much longer than the number of available spaces.

“We were given the understanding that there was going to be an increase in spaces,” said Stephanie Pagnucco, of Sault Ste. Marie District Social Services.

“And we were quite shocked to see that we only got three spaces.”

In 2022, the province gave a three-year outlook for expansion of the number of childcare spaces in the Sault, totalling 141, with 30 this year.

But in March, the board was told it would actually be 42 in that period, and only three this year.

A recent study found there are a lot of families still in need of childcare in the Sault.

Demand outstrips supply

“So we have a waitlist of 2,200 children and we only have licence space for about 1,900,” Pagnucco said.

“We know that the community demand is there. We also know that the infrastructure is there and the community support is there. So it’s quite frustrating to know that we have all those things in place, but we’re so dependent on the funding because it’s directly tied to how many spaces we can operate.”

She credits local MPP Chris Scott with helping the board to advocate for more childcare spaces.

Ontario’s Ministry of Education did not respond when asked for a statement on this issue.

Scott said he’s going to keep working on the issue until he makes progress in bringing 300 spaces to the city.

“It’s not something we’re going to stop working on until it’s done,” he said.

Pagnucco said an increase in childcare slots will be a large focus when Sault delegates head to the AMO conference in Ottawa next month.

She said daycare not only helps with the development of youth, but also allows parents to go to work without worries about their child’s well-being.