| Between rent, tuition, textbooks, transportation, parking and a myriad of unforeseen fees, being a student is one expensive venture. More so for those students who have the added responsibility of being a parent of a young child. Calgary’s growth has seen a dramatic increase in the number of parents seeking daytime care for their preschool-aged children, leaving full- and part-time students scrambling to find adequate supervision for their children while they attend classes at post-secondary institutions such as SAIT, ACAD, Mount Royal College and the University of Calgary. While some of these bastions of higher learning offer such consideration to their students, many parents are finding themselves in a sticky spot when it comes to placing their children with a qualified daycare provider.
Unfortunately, SAIT and ACAD do not offer any form of on-campus daycare for their students, staff and faculty. A large privately owned daycare provider in immediate proximity to these campuses has the ability to accommodate up to 110 children aged 13 months to 5 years, but reports being completely booked full with no openings for enrollment anticipated until spring. Similarly, other child-development centres and day homes in the area have ceased accepting part-time enrollments altogether due to increased demand for full-time spaces. Parents looking into such facilities can expect to pay an average of $850 per month for a child of around 18 months of age. A staggering blow to any household budget, even in light of the recently implemented government child care benefit of $100 per child — roughly equivalent to the cost of a week’s worth of diapers and formula.
The often-frustrating task of locating information on (or close to) campus child care is made easier at Mount Royal College thanks to the institution’s "Student Life" (webpage www.mtroyal.ab.ca/studentlife/studentservices.shtml) that provides a handy A to Z listing of Student Services. The Mount Royal College Child Care Centre and Preschool Program is conveniently located on the west side of the MRC campus. It is licensed to accommodate some 80 children between the ages of 19 months and five years. According to a representative from the centre they have an enrollment waitlist of approximately a year-and-a-half ($30 application fee applicable) with very little turnover to be expected until the summer months, or next fall.
The MRCCCC gives waitlist priority firstly to students, secondly to staff and faculty and thirdly to community members. Students can expect to pay $825 per month for a child aged 19 months to three years, and $775 per month for a child between the ages of three and five years. They also offer a preschool which is available two or three days a week, costing $155 to $205 per month respectively.
While the centre’s mission statement acknowledges the college’s generosity in providing space and services to the child care centre, it makes it clear that MRC does not operate the facility. All of its programs are not-for-profit and are run by the Mount Royal College Day Care Society Board of Directors.
The University of Calgary campus is home to the University Child Care Centre (UCCC) (www.fp.ucalgary.ca/childcarecentre/) which operates both a full-time daycare and a kindergarten program from 8:30 a.m. — 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Due to what they describe as "an extremely high demand" they accept only children of students, staff and faculty of the U of C. Students can expect to fork out a non-refundable $25.00 application fee, while the waiting list application fee for staff and faculty is $50.00. Of course, the application fee does not guarantee enrollment, and waiting list priority is given to siblings of children already enrolled, full-time students and lastly faculty and staff. Families receiving phone calls informing them of an available spot must reply to the UCCC within 24 hours, or the centre will simply move on to the next person on the wait list. In short, you snooze you lose!
The UCCC does have the advantage of accepting very young children. Parents can expect to pay a whopping $1080.00 per month for a child between the ages of three months and 18 months. After that the fee drops to a mere $820.00 monthly for children aged 19 months to 36 months, and $700 monthly for three to six year olds. According to their FAQ webpage the UCCC, which is licensed for 80 children, currently has some 470 applications on file for their waitlist. On average, applicants can expect to spend one to three years on the waiting list before receiving a place at the centre.
October 2005 saw ground work begin on a new $28.1 million Child Care Centre on the main floor of the Child Development Centre, located on the southwest corner of campus adjacent to the freshly constructed Alberta Children’s Hospital. The CDC represents a partnership project between the U of C and the Calgary Health Region. The UCCC’s current waitlist will transfer to the new centre, with enrollment preference for its 82 child care spots being given to faculty and staff. This new facility is estimated to be opened sometime in early 2007. The U of C President’s advisor on Women’s Issues, Dr. Claudia Emes, reports that this is but one step towards the university’s goal of meeting the campus’s need for 500 child care spots as identified in the Next Steps Report of the Gender Equity Project.
For more information on other childcare centres, please visit:
www.servicealberta.ca
www.calgaryarea.com "Local Child Care" link
www.calgaryandareacfsa.gov.ab.ca
www.mtroyal.ab.ca/childcare/
www.ucalgary.ca/childcare
calgary.babyzone.com/parentresources
For information on childcare subsidies, please visit:
www.child.gov.ab.ca/childcaresubsidy |
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