Parents angry with Manitoba’s daycare dilemma, but new government says issue a priority

Months, even years, this is how long some people are being told it might be before they have access to childcare in Manitoba, and some parents in the province say there needs to be immediate intervention by the government to ensure all families have the access they need. 

Crista Gladstone put her son on waiting lists in Winnipeg for daycare when she was pregnant and more than two years later, still doesn’t have a spot. She calls the situation a challenge, while she should be preparing to go back to work, she’s now weighing her options around working from home and part-time. 

“He’s probably on 10 to 15 lists and I’ve been calling my top five to seven for the past six months and I pretty much have been told there’s no chance of him getting in,” she explained. “It’s frustrating and it’s sad.

“We have five kids, it’s better for our family if I could work full-time and if my husband can work full-time. For both of us to be working part-time, or not working, isn’t a long-term solution for us.” 

She feels early childhood educators must be compensated better to retain staff and encourage people to enter the profession.

“It’s not getting any better any faster. In fact, it’s getting worse.”

Information from the province indicated due to the fact daycares keep their own wait lists and parents may be applying to several at a time, it’s impossible to know how many parents in total are waiting for a spot.

Melissa Thomas and her husband had to coordinate work schedules to look after their two children for years, and while they’ve secured spots for their little ones this year and next, her kids are being forced from their social networks due to a lack of before and after care in her area, causing anxiety for her daughter, her son, still regularly asking to return.

“Almost everyday that I am waiting to pick up him he says: ‘I wish I was in a different school. I really miss my old school. When are they going to call you? Did they call you today? So they really wish they could go back to their original school,” said Thomas. 

She wants to see more school-based and school-proximity daycares, calling the situation unfair.

“That’s the challenge we’ve been handed. We were handed that by the previous government that did very little when it comes to creating more space and creating more spaces to actually train the people. But we’re hitting the ground running on this, and it’s certainly a priority for us.” 

Alongside engaging the federal government’s $10-a-day daycare program, the previous government made some efforts on this front, both through tuition reimbursements of $5,000 and through an investment of more than $34 million for wages, but the current Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning Nello Altomare says the efforts fell far short.  

But he says announcements are coming. 

“I’m going to ask for their patience, and I know that’s tough to do, and I’m certainly aware of how difficult this is for young families, but we are working on it diligently with the department.”