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Squamish needs more daycare spots

I t’s not unheard of for Squamish parents to put their son or daughter on a waitlist for daycare more than a year in advance.
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It’s not unheard of for Squamish parents to put their son or daughter on a waitlist for daycare more than a year in advance. 

Daycare spaces are tight and it’s becoming even more difficult to find a spot, especially if families wait until the last minute. 

Many parents, needing to return to work, are put in a tough situation of not being able to find care because the amount of spots in Squamish simply isn’t keeping up with demand. 

There is also the issue of affordability. It’s difficult for many families to put one child in daycare, let alone two, leaving some parents to make the difficult decision to stay home or work without making much money. 

An online petition, $10aday.ca, is demanding the government make childcare more affordable. Most daycares in Squamish currently cost between $50 and $60 a day, causing childcare to be the second highest family expense after housing, according to the website. For infants and toddlers, fees in B.C. are the second highest in the country. 

Earlier this week, District of Squamish council endorsed the local Children’s Charter, which is based on the UN Rights of the Child and was created by local students from kindergarten to Grade 6. 

While it doesn’t address childcare specifically, one right is “I have the right to safety and to feel safe, to trust someone and the right to privacy.” 

Often parents looking for full-time childcare are forced to put their son or daughter in two part-time daycares, a situation that is less than ideal considering it can even be difficult for children to adjust to just one daycare. It comes down to feeling safe, and the stress caused to parents by not being able to find appropriate childcare – or any childcare at all, in many cases – must leave some of our youngest residents feeling uneasy, even if they are too young to say so. 

The goal of the Children’s Charter is to make Squamish the best place to be a child and to raise a child. Squamish already has a lot going for it, such a welcoming community of young families, ample indoor and outdoor recreation and some great programs at the rec centre and library, but without better access to daycare it’s difficult to raise a young child in an already stressful situation of returning to work. 

On the bright side, more chilcare facilities – both licenced and unlicenced – are slowly opening in Squamish. The problem is keeping up with demand as more young families move to town. 

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