Daycares scramble as schools prepare to switch to remote learning

Staff at child-care centres are scrambling to figure out what the impending move of all K-12 schools in Winnipeg and Brandon to remote learning will mean for the children attending their programs.

On Sunday, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said child-care facilities could remain open when most students in the province's two largest cities switch to remote learning, starting Wednesday.

Although children of essential workers, as well as those considered high-risk or who have certain disabilities, will still be allowed to go to classes in-person, all other students must attend online. 

Children who have been moved to remote learning shouldn't go to daycare before or after school, the province said.

Jodie Kehl, executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association, says the province needs to clarify who can attend daycare, and who can't.

"I think that the expectation is that [children of essential workers] would also be allowed to attend child care," she said.

"It would be helpful if it was more definitive. I think this is what happens, is that facilities are now left to scramble to determine what they're supposed to be doing."

Kehl also called on the province to open vaccine eligibility up to all child-care workers.

"We saw it in the second wave and we saw it in the third wave now, is that never before is it more clear that early learning and child care is essential for our province to keep working."

Another issue needing clarification is whether the province will offer financial support to child-care centres to offset the lost revenue from parents who are unable to send their children.

"They don't need an additional burden right now of being charged child-care fees if they're not attending the program," Kehl said.

During a news conference Monday, Premier Brian Pallister was asked whether the province would provide any financial support to parents of children unable to work because they can't send their kids to daycare.

Pallister responded that he doesn't know of any province that has such a program, but pointed to the federal Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit as one form of support available to parents.

Unclear who qualifies

Lana Stasiuk is the supervisor of the YMCA-YWCA before-and-after school program at Laura Secord School. She says she doesn't know for certain which kids are allowed to attend.

"I am just assuming that we will stay open for critical care workers' children, and the rest will have to stay home for their remote learning," she said.

The province issued a document listing which critical service workers would get priority access to child care. 

First priority is given to front-line workers such as health-care workers, teachers, law enforcement and firefighters. A second tier of essential workers includes front-line natural resource workers, grocery workers and essential supply chain staff like truck drivers.

Despite the information released by the province, child-care operators say who exactly can attend their programs is unclear.

Determining who qualifies for child care is largely being based on the word of the parents, Stasiuk said.

"I've just been asking the parents this morning, as they've been coming in, do they consider themselves a critical care worker," she said.

With a number of teachers and nurses sending their kids to her program, Stasiuk expects her attendance numbers to fall from 22 to about 10.

Kehl says she has a meeting with provincial officials in the afternoon on Monday, when she hopes to learn more.