On October 24, British Columbians go to the polls to elect a new provincial government. Those we elect will need a strong mandate to chart a bold and just future.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear to all that a quality, affordable child care system is central to this future – a future that meets the needs of children and families, values early childhood educators, supports Indigenous peoples, advances gender equity and a sustainable economy, and redresses the many inequities that exist in our society today.  

That is why we are calling on all BC political parties and candidates to make a meaningful commitment to implement the $10aDay Child Care Plan across BC.  

Over the last 3 years, BC made historic new investments in child care. As a result, families of 32,700 children are now paying $10aDay or less for their child care. But, as we knew from the start, building the child care system BC needs is a 10-year project that will require new annual investments and sound public policy. 

Based on the progress achieved since 2018, we call on all parties to commit to the vision and principles of the $10aDay Plan. Immediate priorities are to:  

1. Move NOW to significantly expand $10aDay child care programs across BC
2. Implement a wage grid for BC’s early childhood educators, starting at $26/hr
3. Use public funds to build child care spaces that are public assets, like schools

Widespread public support for action on child care has never been greater. Candidates should know that access to $10aDay Child Care is the measure of success for BC families.

Ninety percent of British Columbians agree that provincial investments in a quality, affordable child care system are important. More than ¾ believe that government should move more quickly to achieve the goals of the $10aDay Plan.

Those who seek office should also know that business leaders and economists agree - investing in child care is essential to our social and economic recovery.

Over the next month, we will be providing you with election updates and resources.

Together, we can make sure that BC elects a government with a strong mandate for bold action on child care.

Register for a mail in ballot here: https://eregister.electionsbc.gov.bc.ca/ovr/welcome.aspx#

Families are Desperate for School-Age Child Care

A Message from the Early Childhood Educators of BC (ECEBC)
and the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC)

For over 40 years, our two organizations have advanced the development of a well-educated, fairly compensated, and highly respected early childhood educator (ECE) profession. We have always known that ECEs are essential to achieving a high quality, affordable child care system that meets the needs of BC families and communities.

Our broadly-supported research and advocacy over the last 10 years, as reflected in the evolving $10aDay Child Care Plan, created the conditions that made recent progress in BC possible, with much more to come.

The Next Step report, incorporating research, analysis and recommendations for a provincial ECE wage grid, is the latest example of our ongoing commitment to advancing your important work.

By 2007, the failure of BC’s (and much of Canada’s) longstanding market approach to child care was abundantly clear to us. Without public funding, parent fees were too high for most families, but too low to compensate ECEs fairly. The inextricable, problematic link between parent fees and ECE wages made expansion of quality child care difficult. As few could afford to access or work in child care, there were licensed spaces for less than 20 per cent of young children.

So, we began to develop concrete solutions. CCCABC detailed the estimated costs and benefits of a publicly-funded system. ECEBC initiated the $20/hour Wage Strategy based, in part, on the wages paid to ECEs working in BC’s StrongStart programs. These publicly-funded early learning programs are delivered through the Ministry of Education and provided at no cost to parents, who attend the programs with their children.

Our two organizations remain committed to working together to make the goal of a respected, well educated, and fairly compensated ECE profession a reality. Download the full document here...

OPEN LETTER to The Honourable Chrystia Freeland,

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

Download the PDF here...

September 1, 2020

On behalf of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, congratulations on your appointment as Minister of Finance. As Government prepares for the Throne Speech and your first Federal Budget, we are writing to highlight that it is imperative you prioritize and invest substantially in high quality, affordable child care.

This is particularly important for women, as they have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the social and economic costs associated with longstanding and intersecting structural inequities in Canada, and the importance of a feminist recovery.   

The successes achieved to date in implementing the $10aDay Child Care Plan in BC demonstrates that significant federal/provincial/territorial child care investments, with accountability, will advance an inclusive, equitable, green and broadly-supported economic recovery Canada-wide.

My husband and I put our lifetime savings to our “Canadian dream”, even instead of doing a full-on Catholic Church wedding in the Philippines. Our law firm said that the better the “score” the better the chances of getting the immigration papers approved. This is what Canada likes. What were these qualities that made our score high in the Skilled Workers Program?

• My husband and I are both well-seasoned nurses. I was 12 years Senior Orthopedic Nurse in specialized areas of hand surgery, pediatric, spine and sports surgery. My husband was a police-ambulance nurse and an emergency nurse in the biggest Trauma Center in the United Arab Region for 8 years in total.
• I passed my general IELTS with total band score 7.5
• We had 1 child then, my daughter Ysabelle, which also adds to the score

We applied mid-July 2013 and arrived as landed immigrants 8th July 2017 with $30,000+ pocket money, my daughter was 1 year and 5 months, and I was 5 months pregnant with our 2^nd child. Full of rigor, hopes and dreams for the future of our family we embarked on our Canadian dream.

Of course, prior to coming here we mentally prepared ourselves: we would not have our most trusted nanny; and we wouldn’t be able to have our career as Nurses as we needed to do the necessary upgrading. We were ready to take on other roles outside medicine and delve into other opportunities, whatever it was to survive. What came as a surprise was not only the lengthy, confusing and monetary draining process of upgrading, but also extended waiting time for bridging, and most especially the very costly, very difficult to find, very long listed child care services in BC Canada. We thought we came prepared. No, we were in for a very rough ride!

$10aDay Child Care NOW

For British Columbia and Canada to forge a resilient and just future, building a quality, affordable child care system with fairly compensated early childhood educators must be a priority. Increasing the public investment in child care now will play a central role in building a sustainable economy - an economy that mitigates climate change, creates green jobs, supports Indigenous peoples on and off reserve, and undoes many inequities in our communities.

That is why, effective July 1^st, we call on the BC government to begin moving all currently licensed child care programs to $10aDay child care sites. We call on the federal government to share in the costs of this move as part of a Canada-wide recovery plan. And, we call on both levels of government to prioritize and increase funding for Indigenous-led child care services.

During the COVID-19 pandemic it became abundantly obvious that child care is an essential service. This fact was clearly articulated by provincial and federal leaders including Dr. Bonnie Henry and Premier Horgan and is the basis for taking decisive action on child care in BC’s recovery plan. The pandemic laid bare two undeniable realities about child care. 

First, thousands of families have recently lost their jobs and income. They are now facing more financial hardship than ever. To return to work, they need access to affordable child care.  A sustainable economic recovery relies on families being able to regain their earning power, rebuild confidence in their future and spend money in their local economy. Access to affordable child care is essential for families to re-enter the labour force. They need access to quality, affordable programs that meet diverse needs, are culturally relevant, and offer non-traditional hours of care for shift/part-time workers.

Second, the pandemic served to highlight that BC needs a publicly-funded and publicly-managed system of child care.  While public systems like schools were able to respond to the pandemic crisis with clear provincial policy and decision-making, child care services in BC had no reliable or coherent system of communication or coordination. Public funding is essential to make child care affordable and to compensate early childhood educators fairly. Public management is critical to ensure that the fragile, disconnected child care sector is supported to consistently deliver quality, affordable child care. 

Even with spaces available for children of essential workers, families were too often unable to find or afford child care to meet their needs. And, while we all know that public schools will eventually reopen, many child care programs may not as they depend on the decisions made by individual operators who are in turn dependent on market forces.

While government can’t fix everything – it can move to $10aDay Child Care NOW – this will have a huge impact on the economic and social recovery of families and communities.

Read more here...

April 11, 2020

Dear friends and supporters:

Like you we were very relieved to hear BC’s Provincial Health Officer report on April 6 that, “Our percentage of new cases, as you can see, has been slowing, it’s been bending, and that’s really important.” It feels like good news that our collective efforts around physical distancing and hand-washing are seeing results. Together we are getting through these unusual and challenging times.

At the outset of the pandemic we shared our strong message to government that, as in other provinces, all child care programs should be closed to regular users with an immediate plan to ensure designated essential workers can access the child care spaces they require - spaces close to their home or work.

We called for:

• Suspending parent fees for essential workers using child care and for families who are taking the Provincial Health Officer’s advice to stay home with their child if they can, and
• Sustaining the wages of all early childhood educators
• Compensating programs appropriately for the loss of income

Since then, families enrolled in child care programs were extremely relieved to hear from government that in most cases they will not have to pay fees if they are not using their child care space – either because their program closed or because of concerns about the virus - and, that their space will be available when they are able to return to their program. This is as it should be.

However, government is using large financial incentives to encourage programs to remain open but the decision as to whether or not to stay open, work in or attend child care is still left with individual child care providers, educators and parents – rather than being a province-wide coordinated plan. This remains disappointing.

Tier 1 emergency workers with young children now have access to a provincial referral system for assistance with finding a licensed child care space – and emergency workers with school-age children can access free services, as schools remain open, through their local school district. Unfortunately, child care services delivered by community based providers are still required to charge parent fees. We understand both these systems will soon be available to Tier 2 workers.

While BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development has chosen not to manage child care during this pandemic to the level demonstrated in other provinces, we are very glad to know that, as we suggested, the substantial new public funding now available to child care operators cannot be used to generate profits in this crisis. Government guidelines clearly state any surplus funds are to be applied to helping families (by reducing fees, extending hours) and supporting staff wages, along with other health and safety measures.

An interesting result of the pandemic in British Columbia has been the universal recognition of child care as an essential service supporting the economy. We always knew it was! The ability of our public schools to respond quickly and consistently demonstrates yet again the importance of ensuring child care benefits from the same system-wide approach in the future. So, as we all start to think about what recovery for B.C. and Canada will look like post-COVID-19, it is clear that a quality affordable child care system is exactly the type of infrastructure investment that governments will need to make. We’ll be right there along the way advocating for effective public policy decisions.

Thank you for your ongoing support – and like you we’ll continue washing our hands and maintaining physical distance!

From Sharon and the $10aDay Team

March 25, 2020

Honourable Katrine Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development

Honourable Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care

Dear Ministers:

We want to express our profound appreciation for your efforts to address the current unprecedented challenges facing our community and the child care sector in particular. Today, we are writing to ensure that you have a full understanding of our growing concerns about government’s child care actions to date and to provide our best advice on next steps forward.

As you know, we have asked for a rationale for the Provincial Health Officer’s direction to close schools yet allow child care programs to remain open, as this differs significantly from the approach taken in most provinces. We understand that Dr. Henry advised all parents who can to care for their children at home. She also recognized that while some programs may close, child care services can and must be provided in a safe manner for those families whose parents work in critical roles. We agree that child care is essential to meet this need.

Yet, there is still no provincial plan in place to ensure that open programs are meeting the needs of essential workers.  The decision whether or not to stay open, work in or attend child care remains with individual child care providers, educators and families.

Building on the recent recognition that child care is indeed an essential service, we advised government to take effective measures, as other provinces have, to:

• Close all programs to regular users, while maintaining educator wages, ensuring families are not required to pay fees for services they can’t access, and compensating programs appropriately for the loss of income
• Designate essential workers
• Assess the child care needs of essential workers, and
• Open a limited number child care programs to meet those needs, with full funding to support additional health and safety measures, maintain educator wages and provide care at no charge to designated essential workers.

Read the full letter here...

Dear friends and supporters:

We hope that you and your family are safe and well-supported during this critical time.

As the public health emergency unfolds, we are reminding ourselves to approach our advocacy with the ‘generosity of spirit’ that’s essential to achieving the child care system BC needs. We acknowledge that government is working hard to address the COVID-19 pandemic. And, the need for a systematic, province-wide approach to child care services and the health of children, families and early childhood educators remains our top priority. 

We have repeatedly asked for a clear and consistent public health rationale for keeping child care programs open while schools are closed, as almost all other provinces have closed both schools and regular child care programs. Yet, as of March 19, child care programs in BC are still being encouraged and ‘incentivized’ to remain open so that front line essential workers from other sectors can access child care. Parents ‘who can’ are advised to care for their children at home. Families are confused by mixed messages, educators are worried to be at work, and government has not yet clarified policies on parent fees, educator wages and the financial viability of child care programs.

We fully appreciate and support the need to ensure that designated essential workers can continue to provide the critical services our communities need. However, with licensed spaces for only 20% of children and almost no licensed care for shift workers, BC does not currently have a province-wide system in place to address these needs.  

We have always known that child care is essential!

The child care needs of essential workers and the health and safety of children, families and early childhood educators will NOT be achieved through a fragmented approach.   Expecting already under-supported child care programs, dedicated early childhood educators and stressed parents to make individual decisions about whether to stay open, work in or attend child care is not the way forward. Therefore, we support the provincial government to immediately:

1. Implement an emergency child care plan to provide free age-appropriate child care services for all children whose parents are designated as essential workers.
2. Close community-based programs that are not required to care for the children of designated essential workers.  
3. Continue to pay all child care staff.
4. Suspend all parent fees while programs are closed.
5. Maintain all government funding to service providers during closures and provide additional funding to compensate for the loss of income from parent fees and/or parent subsidies.

BC’s plan should be informed by the province-wide plan Quebec has implemented to address these needs.  

It is a tragic irony indeed that it has taken this public health crisis for the essential nature of child care to be recognized.

Now it’s time for the province to respond to the urgent challenges facing child care services, and the children and families they serve, with a province-wide coordinated plan and the supports required to make it a reality.  

Sharon and the $10aDay Team

Download the PDF here...

Workers, operators and advocates question B.C.'s decision not to close all childcare facilities

Published Wednesday, March 18, 2020

VANCOUVER -- Struggles to maintain staff ratios and locate and buy necessary cleaning supplies are just two of the concerns being raised by childcare workers, operators and advocates regarding the B.C. government’s decision not to close daycares during the covid-19 pandemic.

Emily Gawlick, of Early Childhood Educators of BC, told CTV News Vancouver the province could still come up with a system of childcare for essential workers.

“We believe that childcare programs should actually be closed,” Gawlick said. “Early childhood educators are really concerned. They’re scared, they’re frustrated and they’re confused.”

Sharon Gregson, of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, said there’s been no policy rationale for why young children in childcare programs are being treated differently than children in elementary schools.

“It makes no sense to say that childcare has to stay open because people need to send their kids to daycare while they go to work, and yet close elementary school, where there are five-, six-, seven-, eight year-olds. Those children can’t be left at home alone while their parents go to work,” Gregson said.

She said she’s hearing some centres are having a hard time finding the cleaning products they need to follow the current increased sanitation advice, at a time when many stores have seen a rush on disinfectant supplies.

“The sector is in complete crisis, chaos, not knowing if they’re supposed to be open or closed,” Gregson said.

If centres close, she added, the government should take steps to cover any lost wages for workers and ensure parents don’t have to pay for care they’re not receiving during a shutdown.

Read the full article here....