Yukon has high proportion of kids in child care, and new spaces still in demand

The Yukon is near the top of the list in Canada when it comes to the proportion of children in daycare. And some parents in the territory are still having a hard time finding spots for their kids.

Statistics Canada says more than 65 per cent of children aged five and younger are in child care in the Yukon. That's around 1,800 children —  up from 1,560 in 2019.

By comparison, in 2023, the proportion of kids in child care in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut was around 49 per cent and 32.2 per cent, respectively.

Nationally, the Yukon has the second-largest proportion of children in daycare — trailing only Quebec.

"I think there are a couple of different factors," said Misha Donohoe, a senior information officer with the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.

"Some of the the strongest drivers for the increase in the proportion of children in child care are availability and affordability."

The latest numbers may indicate an increase in child-care availability for children five and younger in the Yukon — but demand for more child care spots in the territory seems steady.

Parents who are hoping to get their child admitted to preschool programs at the Yukon Montessori School can expect to wait over a year, depending on the program.

"So we have a wait list for our Casa program — which is about [ages] three to six — and we have a wait list for the toddler program, which is 18 months to three years. So for both wait lists, we have about 60 children on each," said Cassidy Price with the Yukon Montessori School.

Child care spots are hard to get, and the anxieties new parents feel are all too real.

Parents are hedging their bets

Kylie Campbell-Clarke in Whitehorse became a mother earlier this year.

She says that she was able to find a child care spot within a few months of searching.

"I had to like actually go in and be like, 'let me pay now, I have a spot.' But then the anxiety was probably more around aligning that with my fear that I would have to extend my maternity leave," said Kylie Campbell-Clarke.

She had to reach out to multiple care providers to maximize her chances of securing child care — a strategy many Yukon parents are using.

"Prior to her starting daycare, you know, we needed to phone around to probably about 12 different daycares before we got a spot, you know, for my son to be enrolled," said Jasmin Dobson, who is a mother to a three-year-old.

Dobson says she was on multiple wait lists, and she eventually found a spot at the Learnville Daycare in Whitehorse.

Both Dobson and Campbell-Clarke are paying around $300 for child care every month.

Campbell-Clarke emphasizes that affordable child care allows her to fulfil her professional goals while also being a parent.

"I have career goals, and I want to know that my son can, like, look at me and be like, my mum did all those things and she still got to be my mom with the help of child care," said Campbell-Clarke.

The Yukon Government is currently reviewing the territory's Child Care Act. Public consultation is open till Jan. 30.