The waitlist for parents looking to enroll their child in daycare continues to be lengthy in Greater Sudbury, according to officials.
As of January 2025, reductions to daily fees came into effect, with some families paying $22 a day at licenced centres who opted in to the federal program called the Canda-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system.
The program is part of the government of Canada’s promise to move to the $10 a day model.
Tracy Saarikoski, executive director of Discovery Early Learning and Care – which has five locations in Greater Sudbury – said the reductions have made a huge difference for families.
“In the past, rates were probably close to $50 to $65 a day for infant and toddler spaces, So, $22 a day is a good move in the right direction,” she said.
“It’s been a savings of an additional cost. Love like a mortgage. Like we’re talking $1,200 a month saving in childcare fees and if you have two or three children, it can really add up.”
Ashley Kainulainen, executive director of Walden Day Care Centre in Lively, said she’s has heard positive comments from families.
“It’s honestly the best for our families to be able to have that continued support and work towards a $10 a day childcare that the federal government has promised,” she said.
“It’s an exciting time for sure.”
Childcare sites with an active funding agreement with the City of Greater Sudbury and are enrolled in the federal program are posted online via a virtual map.
The city says the reductions are helping over 2,600 families in the area, with 3,300 children less than a year to five-years-old are enrolled in childcare spaces.
Waitlists for service continue to be lengthy, however. Officials said that on average, wait times in Greater Sudbury are 18 months, depending on the child’s age.
“We’re talking over 900 families on a waitlist for just the one location, at our Holy Trinity site,” said Saarikoski – adding their waitlists start at about 200.
Kainulainen said the Walden daycare continues to be at capacity.
“There’s significant waitlists,” she said.
“If it’s there’s a relief in finances for parents and they want to utilize that care more readily. So, we definitely see our capacity being reached on a regular basis, which is great too.”
Saarikoski said plans are in the works to close its main site in Garson to open a new facility on Gemmell Street in New Sudbury. The new space will be in the same facilities as Gym Zone, taking over a separate adjacent space.
She said talks have been ongoing with families and program supervisors at the Main location.
“We’re hoping to increase and now have infant to school age at that location, where the main site in Garson is, just toddler and preschoolers,” she said.
“We’ll be happy to have some infants, and school age children alongside us with those, 82 new spaces. We still have a Garson location and there’s other childcare providers in Garson, so we don’t feel it’s a disservice, for our families.”
Saarikoski said they are planning to open the new location in April.
Improving wages and worker retention is still an ongoing concern, she said.
“We still need to ensure that there’s high quality, affordable childcare, but you’re not going to have that without a registered early childhood educator and a supporting team,” said Saarikoski.
“So this government, we’re hoping, needs to step up now and actually, financially support the system so that we can pay our staff, a livable wage, include benefits, pensions, increased sick days.”
