Ten years ago, Quebec’s Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés (MFA) created a family policy to help children ages 0 to 5 years old get a place in a daycare. The goal was commendable: allow every child to get a government subsidized place in a safe and educational daycare.
A decade later, daycares have not developed and evolved much but the demand for a place in daycare has considerably increased. This resulted in parents having to wait for moths before finding a daycare that is not only able to receive their child, but also fits with their values and needs.
Different types of childcare services
Early Childhood Centers
Early childhood centers (ECC) are not-for-profit organizations or cooperatives whose 2/3 of the board is made up of parents whose children attend the daycare. These facilities can welcome a maximum of 80 children for a daily rate of $7.
Daycare Centers
Daycare centers are generally businesses that can welcome a maximum of 80 children. They need to have an advisory committee made of at least 5 parents whose children attend the daycare. Most centers have signed an agreement with the MFA and offer subsidized places ($7/day). Other daycares can set their prices as they please.
Home Daycare Centers
Home daycares are services offered by individuals in their private residence. If a person is not known by a coordinating office, he/she cannot welcome more than 6 children. Otherwise, an individual responsible for a home daycare service can offer educative services to a maximum of 6 children, or 9 children if this person is assisted by another adult. Many home daycare centers have signed an agreement with the MFA and offer subsidized places ($7/day)
Source : Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés
The pros and cons of each type of childcare service
A dozen mothers, some working in daycare centers, made a list of pros and cons for each type of childcare. Here are the pros and cons that came up the most:
Early Childhood Centers
Pros
- The daycare educators are trained and supervized by an administrative manager.
- The centers must follow certain standards (hygiene, safety).
- The room layout is adapted to children.
- Materials and various games are often renewed.
- Outings and special activities are more frequent.
- Opening hours are longer and services are always assured by substitutes if needed.
- Children are grouped by age.
- Easy access to resources (colleagues, educational consultants, CLSC).
- Government benefits for children requiring special care.
Cons
- Staff is always changing (pause, lunch, holidays, vacations, etc.)
- The child has a new educator every year.
- The child isn’t in the same group as his brothers or sisters.
- A “cold” environment (similar to school), compared to a warm and inviting home environment.
- Daily routines are less flexible: snack, lunch, nap.
- Obligation to attend. Not flexible to individual family needs.
- Places become available in September, for back to school (hard to get the child in when you need it).
Daycares
Pros
- Same as Early Childhood centers.
Cons
- Most subsidized daycares charge additional fees for services offered during the day (extra snack, special activity).
- Private non-subsidized daycares can set their rates as they please, sometimes charging excessive fees. However, parents only pay for the days their child attends the daycare (there are part-time places, which are rarely found in early childhood centers).Some mothers fear that these facilities are less supervized by the Ministry than ECCs.
Home Daycare Centers
Pros
- Child educator stability during the day.
- Long-term attachment since the educator is the same every year.
- Fewer children.
- Siblings are together all day.
- Multi-age groups are a great advantage to stimulate the little one’s development and to make the older children more responsible.
- Fewer risks of contamination (diseases, infections)
- The educational program is applied with more flexibility.
- Participation in daily activities and tasks (meals, for example)
- Warmer environment, family-orientated and less noisy.
- Personalized service.
- Easier to find available places (especially if the daycare isn’t subsidized).
Cons
- Even if some educators have been trained, many have a very limited training (45 hours compared to the 3 years of college training for ECCs).
- Limited opening hours.
- Subsidized facilities have an obligation to attend, which does not always meet your needs.
- If the educator is alone, no one can help her express her frustrations.
- Fewer outings outside the neighbourhood.
- Fewer resources for children with special needs.
- Multi-aged groups make for less adapted activities.
- Places for the second or third child are hard to get since there is a limit of 6 to 9 children.
- When the educator is sick, pregnant or on vacation, the service is often cancelled.
- The educator is self-employed so she can put an end to the contract or even shut down the service entirely with only a few weeks notice.
- You must “shop around” for a long time before finding THE right person who will meet your child’s needs as well as yours.
For private home daycare centers (non-subsidized), it is hard to name the pros and cons since they do not have to meet any government standards. Their services vary a lot from one facility to another.
These are, of course, very personal opinions from mothers who have used these services. Like with any other service, some parents have had great experiences while others have had awful ones, whether it be in an ECC, a private daycare or a family daycare. This is what enabled us to do the pros and cons for each. One thing is certain: you will never find a childcare center that has all the pros and cons of each type of daycare. This article is simply a guide to help you know what questions to ask and what elements to be vigilant about.
As you can tell, there are daycares for all tastes and preferences. Putting your child’s name on every daycare list in your neighbourhood is not going to help you if you don’t know if the facility is right for you. Here is a PDF document found on the MFA website that will help you choose the right daycare for you and your little angel!
