Full-day kindergarten, rigid regulations causing daycare closures, owner says

A St. John's daycare owner says several centres in the city have closed because they could no longer make ends meet.

'It's not that we don't have the space to take the kids ... it's conforming to the regulations."- Gail Sullivan

According to Gail Sullivan, owner of Happy Times Preschool, seven centres have closed in St. John's since September — and many more are barely surviving.

She said the introduction of full-day kindergarten and strict government regulations are mostly to blame. According to Sullivan, both are responsible for removing thousands of children from daycare centres, as well as putting unreasonable expenses on the daycare owners.

Sullivan said full-day kindergarten coming into effect last fall freed up 4,500 spaces at centres across the province. And while many parents were in support of the cost-saving move, Sullivan said the drop rocked many daycare facilities. 

Regulations

Sullivan said rigid regulations are also putting heavy expenses on daycares, which are small businesses trying to survive in an already slumping provincial economy.

While she understands that rules are in place to protect children, Sullivan said she wants people to know the high costs associated with those regulations. 

One such rule applies to infant childcare centres and stipulates there be one staff member trained in early childhood education for every three children. Those centres look after children two and under. 

"I know of one centre that can take infants under two-years-old, there are 33 on a wait list, but they can't take them because they can't find staff qualified in infant care," she said.

According to Sullivan, another rule is the requirement that all staff need to be trained in first aid, something that isn't required in a public school. In a school, she said, only one member of staff is required to have that training. 

Sullivan said there always has to be a worker trained in early childhood education observing the children. And that means centres need an additional, trained staff member who is ready to step in should that employee have to step away or use the bathroom.

CBC News reached out to the provincial government for comment and, in response, received a list of recent funding allocations related to child-care subsidies and early childhood education. 

Ryan Butt, a spokesperson with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said, "guidelines are important for the health and safety of children. Infants, as the most vulnerable group, require staff that have early childhood education qualifications. Infant homerooms have always required qualified staff."

Minister Dale Kirby declined a request for an interview.

Looking at Quebec as a model

Sullivan would like to see government loosen some of those regulations, or pitch in to subsidize daycares the same way Quebec does.

She said that could make it more affordable to middle and lower-incomes parents. That would then free up many parents, especially women, to enter the workforce instead of staying home to look after their kids.

"The model Quebec has is ideal, it costs the Quebec government dearly, but it solves pretty much all of the problems," she said.

 "This is a very female-dominated workforce and it liberates women [to work]."

Sullivan said the current economic climate in Newfoundland and Labrador means daycares simply weren't prepared to deal with the shock of all-day kindergarten coming into effect. She has personally felt the effects of the downturn at her own centre in downtown St. John's.

"A lot of employees in the oil industry work there, and that was primarily the bread and butter of my childhood centre," she said.