B.C. parent frustrated after child care provider plans opt-in fees

Some Metro Vancouver parents, who were supposed to save hundreds of dollars a month on daycare through a government initiative, tell Monika Gul they’re not - as their daycares start charging for services previously included in monthly fees.

By Martin MacMahon and Monika Gul and Astrid Agbayani

Posted December 16, 2022 6:43 pm.

Last Updated December 16, 2022 9:08 pm.

The government recently announced a child care subsidy intended to give families a break, but after her provider added in opt-in fees for previously included services, one B.C. parent claims the operator is using the subsidy in order to boost profits.

Kathryn Teranishi, says her daycare provider in Langley applied for government subsidies. The family was looking forward to a reduction in their child care expenses as they were paying over $1,100 a month before the latest subsidy announcement.

The cost covered care for five days a week, meals, and video monitoring. Teranishi says these services were part of the reason why they chose the facility.

With the newest government subsidy, the family’s total was reduced to about $575.

But recently, Teranishi says she received a letter from the daycare stating that meals and video monitoring will become additional opt-in services in the new year. In order to keep both services, the opt-in bumps the price back up to over $1,000.

“The government gave us these subsidies to lower our daycare costs, and they gave them to everybody which was great…it just feels really dirty that all of the sudden the school is finding ways to tack-on extra fees,” Teranishi explained.

The Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative was introduced by the provincial government in 2018, to offer funding to child care centres so they could reduce parents’ fees.

At the time, a family could save up to $350. In the last week, the government announced additional funding that could help families save up to $900 a month.

“What is the purpose of adding all these initiatives and the subsidies when the daycares can just as quickly turn around and say, ‘Fine, parents are used to spending X amount of dollars so we know they have that money in their bank,'” Teranishi said.

Sharon Gregson of the $10aDay campaign says there have been instances in the past when day care providers tried to make additional profit.

“In the past, we have heard about a two-tier system where you pay a little bit more money, your child will get more attention, your child will get more art supplies,” Gregson said.

Gregson says it’s surprising and distressing that profit would be a driving force when children’s care and education should be the most important thing to keep in mind.

In a statement from Minister of State for Child Care Grace Lore, she writes that the province encourages parents to have conversations with their provider to talk about any discrepancies and to help understand fee breakdowns.

“I know that child care providers have the best interests of the families they serve in mind. Under the fee reduction contract, providers are prohibited from removing an existing service and then adding that same service back as optional with a fee, without approval from the ministry,” Lore said.