B.C. pilot program to offer $200/month child care, but few providers applying

A B.C. child-care initiative, announced in early June, wouldgive parents of about 1,800 children in B.C. access to $10 per day childcare or $200 per month throughout the 18-month pilot.

But with most of theapplication period already passed, theMinistry of Children and Family Development has only received 30 completed application forms from daycare providers.

Some daycare centres say they've been stymied by the hoops they have to jump through to take part in the program, which will launch in September. Some said their flexible daycare model disqualifies them.

Julianna Issa, who runsWest Point Grey Daycarein Vancouver, said she won't applybecause the paperwork is too onerous.

"I don't have the time to prepare for this," Issasaid on Thursday. "I need a lot of financial statements, and the accountant is also very busy.

"I'm not clear exactly on how much of the commitment will be on a monthly basis after I apply," she said, adding that applying for theprogram is something she did consider.

Katrina Chen,Minister of State for Child Care, said in a written statement that the pilot, which will cost about $60 million, is part of a broader plan to make child care more affordable, create more spaces, and add more qualified educators across the province.

"So far we have had a great response to the initiative, with several hundred participants calling in to the two information sessions we have held," Chen said in the statement.

One more information session will be held on July 4, before the July 9 application deadline.

A ministry spokesperson said there are about 111,000licensed care spaces in B.C. that receive governmentfunding, meaning the 1,800 that will be included in the pilot makeup only a small fraction.

Those odds don't look good to Issa, who speculates that the location of her non-profit daycare,in a tonier Vancouver neighbourhood, might make it less likely that an application if she had time to complete one would be successful.

But Chen said they're looking for a range of licensed providers, "in order to ensure that the spaces represent the diversity of B.C.'s child-care system, demographics and regional needs."

Issa said the families who occupy her centre's 12 spaces, which cost about $1,650 per month,would certainly benefit from the discounted child care and some already take advantage of other provincial subsidies but her wait list is enormous, with about 300 hundred children in the queue.

She said if some of the administrative burdencould be passed on to the families, that would make the program more appealing to her.Andif the pilot turns into a universal child-care program in two years, she hopes the paperwork would be more manageable.

Read more from CBC British Columbia

Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker