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By Chantal Wagner

offset fees

YMCA child care centres receive one-year transitional funding

Mar 15, 2021 | 3:54 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Some parents who access $25 a day child care will continue to benefit with some easing of costs.

The Early Learning Child Care (ELCC) pilot project for subsidized care will be discontinued at the end of this month.

But the YMCA of Medicine Hat has been selected by the Alberta government to receive one year of transitional funding to offset costs.

They selected 13 child care programs in the province to receive this funding, including both Medicine Hat centres.

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According to a release, while this funding does not allow for the $25 a day fee structure to continue, it will offset parent fees for one year between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. That will allow families more time to transition back to full market rates.

As of April 1, monthly fees at both the YMCA John Millar and Crescent Heights Child Development Centres will increase to $794 (ages 19 months to 5 years) and $891 (ages 0-18 months).

YMCA CEO Sharon Hayward says they were not aware the government was considering this subsidy.

She says the province looked at the centres that had the most families accessing the child care subsidy.

“The fees will be between $794 up to $891 depending on the age of the child. So for a family that receives a full government subsidy, it will only increase their fees by $150. That’s still a big chunk of change but at the same time it’s much better than having to go all the way up to the full market rate.”

Child care varies from centre to centre, but Hayward says it’s anywhere from $900 to $1,200 in Medicine Hat.

She adds the $25 a day program was very popular, “When it came in we had families that were in tears, they were so relieved to have an opportunity to afford child care. So this increases fees somewhat, but it’s still well below market rate so that’s been positive.”

Hayward says they’ve also seen families who were accessing $25 a daycare having to withdraw their children from the program because even with this transitional grant it will still be outside of their price range.

There are a couple of child care spaces available at both of the centres.

The local YMCA has over 130 families who access child care.