Some Nova Scotia parents leaving workforce due to lack of child care

Katie Reynolds enjoyed her job in the beverage industry, but when her 18-month maternity leave was over and she couldn't find child care for her daughter, she said she had no other choice but to quit. 

When she was seven months pregnant, Reynolds had registered her daughter on various daycare waitlists. But that still wasn't enough time to secure a spot that aligned with her full-time hours. 

"There was no way around it," said Reynolds. "I was going to become a stay-at-home parent, and that was horrifying. I probably cried for the first week, two weeks." 

The now stay-at-home mother, who lives in Wolfville, N.S., with her husband and four-year-old daughter, had a good salary, benefits and pension. She said she didn't realize that in her case, she would have to make a choice between career and motherhood. 

"You are now financially dependent on someone, and as a female, that was really difficult for me to process that I was going to have to go to him for everything," said Reynolds. Her husband ultimately became the family's sole provider in the summer of 2022. 

But Reynolds is only one of many parents forced to make this decision.  

For 4.9 per cent of children up to age five in Nova Scotia, according to a 2023 Statistics Canada report, their parents were not using child care and had to delay their return to work due to difficulties finding it.

Kerri Johnson, provincial director of early learning and child care for the YWCA Halifax, said parents, especially mothers, are having to make these sacrifices far too often. 

"Affordable, accessible, quality child care increases women's participation in the workforce, increases women's economic empowerment and has a dramatic impact on helping women play central roles in our communities," said Johnson. 

She said the YWCA has over 1,000 children on its waitlists for various programs in Nova Scotia. 

Brendan Maguire, minister of education and early childhood development, said the government has created over 6,500 new child-care spaces since 2021. 

Under the 2021 Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement with Ottawa, the province must hit 9,500 new spaces by March 2026, but Maguire said the government will not stop there. 

"Once we hit [9,500], the work isn't done," Maguire said at cabinet on Thursday. "We've informed the department that we'll continue to review what spaces are needed. If we need more than [9,500], we're going to go past [9,500]."

Since July 2021, Nova Scotia has lost more than 1,300 spaces. Losing spaces due to closures of private-sector daycares is something that Maguire pointed out in January 2024 when he was a member of the provincial Liberals. 

In May, the federal government rejected the province's plea to change the terms of the $605-million daycare fund by extending daycare expansion funds to private operators. 

When asked whether the provincial government would renegotiate the deal with Ottawa, Maguire said he is "open to anything," and that the federal government should expect to hear from him. 

Sarah Deveau, a mother of six, four of whom live with her full time, in Bedford, N.S., said she had to leave her full-time job because she couldn't find after-school care for her children. They range in age from pre-primary to Grade 6.

Deveau said this has been difficult financially. 

"There's been times where we're late on rent," Deveau said. "We're having a hard time making ends meet on our utilities. There was fear of being homeless at one point last year during Christmas."

She said the kids are each on several daycare waitlists, but she was told that the wait could be a year or two.

Deveau wants to go back to work as soon as possible and has been looking for more flexible part-time work during school hours. 

Reynolds also has aspirations to get back into full-time work. 

However, she said the decision to leave her job was the right choice for her family. She said she has enjoyed getting to spend this time with her daughter. 

"I'm really just leaning into this opportunity that life, kind of in a sense, forced onto me," said Reynolds. 

"This is my job right now. This is my purpose ... and in a few years this job is going to be over and it will be time for a new job."