Once a leader in $10-a-day child care, B.C. now lags behind: report

Ella Dalling has had her nine-month-old daughter Murph on daycare waitlists since nearly the first ultrasound.

"We probably put ourselves on about 20 waitlists across Vancouver. We haven't heard back from any of them," Dalling said.

The Vancouver mom says parents have no choice but to wait or cold call daycares.

And because B.C. has no fee caps for daycares, prices can fluctuate between $200 and $2,000 a month.

"When you get a spot at a daycare, you're not really asking how much it costs, you need the spot," she said.

Dalling has launched an online platform called Little Scout where daycares can post open spots and parents can find what’s available near them.

Through that business, she's talked to parents and child-care operators from across B.C. who say the current system needs improvement.

"When you have families deciding whether or not they can have a second child because of daycare availability, you know you have a problem," the Vancouver mother said.

Former NDP cabinet ministers say B.C. has ‘stalled’ on $10-a-day child-care plan

A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that B.C. has fallen behind other provinces when it comes to universal affordable child care.

The province's child-care system is a mix of private and non-profit operators, some with deep government subsidies and some that charge full price.

David Macdonald, one of the report's co-authors, says parents are asking a simple question.

"How much am I going to have to pay for child care in places like British Columbia?" he asked. "The answer is very complicated."

Is B.C. still committed to $10-a-day child care? We asked the minister