Report sheds light on 'child care deserts' in northeastern Ontario
Parents up against high costs, few available spaces in the hunt for child care
According to a recent study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, many Canadians are living in "child care deserts" — and the northeast is no exception.
David Macdonald, who authored the study, told CBC's Up North that he defines a "desert" as an area that does not have adequate access to registered child care spaces.
"[It's] any postal code where you have three or more kids for every one licensed space," Macdonald said. "It's an area wheres there's lots of kids, but not many child care spaces."
While Greater Sudbury has it's desert-like pockets, Macdonald said the numbers are more bleak for northerners living in rural areas.
What that means is parents will have to go further afield to find registered care, or make different arrangements, he said.
A fair number of kids, a shortage of spaces
The story in Sudbury is that some areas fare well, while others fall short.
"One of the postal codes, near Laurentian, as well as Sturgeon Falls, the coverage rates are decent," he said. "Once you go outside those areas, the rates fall dramatically."
"There are several in town, like the east side like Garson and New Sudbury, and closer to Minnow Lake, where there's not enough spaces for children," he said.
"And when you go into the big rural area codes, there are deserts. A fair number of kids, but not many spaces."
Macdonald hopes that the study catches the attention of policy makers. He's critical of those who make announcements about opening day care spaces, but provide few details about fixing the shortage in these areas.
The study also sheds light on another province-wide issue: the high costs of day care.
"For most parents there two common complaints about finding day care," Macdonald said. "One, it's expensive, and two, the wait lists are long."
"I've looked in detail, and found that costs are high and going up all time," he added. "With this study, it shows that even if people can afford 100 bucks a day, and you're in northern Ontario, it doesn't matter. There's no space."
With files from Robin DeAngelis