P.E.I. daycares worry boosting capacity won't matter under current funding structure

Some P.E.I. daycare centres say a provincial plan to increase capacity won't actually allow them to take in more kids unless additional provincial funding is made available.

The majority of child-care centres on the Island get much of their funding from the province. They follow standards set out by government and charge set fees.

Right now, the amount of money a centre gets from the province is based mostly on the number of educators it has and their qualification levels — and support staff are not part of the equation.

But some daycare operators are telling CBC News they need more than just more educators to take on more kids. They'll also need more admin support, more cleaners and more cooks.

The Early Childhood Development Association of P.E.I. has heard the concern from operators as well.

"The ECDA has submitted recommendations to the government to ensure that expansion is paired with support in place to maintain quality," the association said in an email to CBC News this week.

There are an estimated 2,000 kids on the waitlist for child care in P.E.I.

One of the ways the province aims to bring that number down is by increasing the number of children allowed at a given centre to 125. Current provincial regulations limit centres to only 80 kids regardless of the space or staffing numbers they have.

Jamie-Lynn Mosher, director of Rainbow Beginnings Early Years Centre in the northeastern P.E.I. community of St. Teresa, said this can be frustrating.

"There are children on your waitlist that are wanting to come, and you don't have space for them," Mosher told CBC News earlier this month.

"That's sometimes the hardest phone calls I make throughout the day, as people call and ask, 'Do you have space?' And I have to say no."

The centre recently increased its floor space following renovations to repair damage from post-tropical storm Fiona, and Mosher said it could now accommodate as many as 110 children given enough funding to care for them properly. 

"It'll be pretty easy to fill — our waitlist does have lots of children on it," she said.

A spokesperson for P.E.I.'s Department of Education and Early Years said the government is looking at offering more funding for support staff at centres that expand, but didn't provide specifics on a timeline or a dollar figure.

Cabinet is expected to approve changes to child-care regulations, including capacity limits, in December.