Parents are starting to lobby the P.E.I. government to provide money for child-care centres because rates could go up by 30 per cent next fall.
Child-care centres will lose an important revenue source when kindergarten moves into the school system this fall, and some centres say they'll have to increase their rates from 10 to 30 per cent.
Right now, the province pays the centres a subsidy for every child in kindergarten, and is considering a new subsidy for child-care centres.
That's something that Laurie Brehaut is pushing for. She recently learned the child-care bill for her two young kids could increase by $300 a month this September, bringing the monthly cost up to $1,500.
"We're trying to arrange a public forum where parents from all over the Island can come together and express their concerns to the powers that be," she said Friday.
When Brehaut's maternity leave runs out in August, her six-month-old daughter will join her three-year-old son at Campus Kids Child Care Centre in Charlottetown.
"It's stressful. We're planning on having more kids, and we've been talking about it, we'll have to wait until the ones we have are out of daycare," she said.
Brehaut said she and her husband have even thought about one of them staying home to look after the kids.
"But, it's just not feasible with student loans and whatnot," she said.
Alice Taylor, with the Early Childhood Development Association, said the cut in funding is posing a problem for child-care owners.
"The operators are in a real quandary. It's a real ethical dilemma for them. Early childhood care and education for children is about the relationship with the families, as well," she said.
Two long-time Charlottetown pre-schools are closing because staff are taking positions teaching kindergarten in the school system.
The Brighton School of Early Learning and Spring Park School of Early Learning have sent letters notifying parents of the shutdown in June. The Brighton School has operated for about 40 years. Prior to 1995, it was known as Mrs. Chang's.
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