Yellowknife (Aug 18/06) - Yellowknife daycares are not alone in their struggle to provide services under the crunch of a poorly funded system.

Daycare directors around the country say they are financially strained, making it difficult to cover essentials such as maintenance and food.

What Canadian parents pay for daycare: Sackville, N.S. - $580/month Vernon, B.C. - $260 - $728/month Calgary, Alta. - $575 - $750/month Kingston, Ont. - $600 - $680/month Montreal, Que. - $140/month Yellowknife, NWT - $600 - $700/month

"I don't even draw a paycheque," says Carole Purdy, Director of First Memories Daycare in Sackville, Nova Scotia.

"We're struggling like crazy just to stay open - there's no money and no funding to cover our basic needs."

With over a hundred children on wait lists in Yellowknife, operators here say the situation is so grave they could close. Their plight is not unique, however.

Retention is a problem that is plaguing daycares in B.C., Alberta, and Nova Scotia, according to operators. Nationwide basic operating costs and a high turnover rate are pinching the system.

In Vernon, B.C. turnover is high due to low wages, according to workers at the Kids Corner Daycare in Vernon. In Calgary, there is also a high turnover rate as staff are required under Alberta regulations to have early childhood education, and are also not enough wages.

Stringent government standards are making it harder for daycares to operate and with their financial difficulties, many can't reach the bar.

The situation is especially acute in B.C. where the government requires staff to be certified in early childhood education. But $10-$12 an hour is not enough for staff to survive on, said Katie Making, a supervisor at Vernon's Kids Corner.

"I can't afford to live on my own. I have to live in my parent's basement where it's cheaper."

In Yellowknife, daycare workers also don't earn enough to live on their own, said Linda Benedict, director of the Yellowknife Daycare Centre. Workers in the capital take home about $11 an hour; their counterparts in Quebec make between $12 and $20 per hour while workers in Calgary take home between $9 and $11 an hour.

The cost of daycare varies across the country and is largely determined by provincial subsidies. Quebec offers the most financial support, while the Northwest Territories rank in the middle of the pack.

Quebec parents pay $140 per month for each child, compared to $600-$700 in Yellowknife. The Quebec government covers almost 80 per cent of childcare costs. Calgarians pay between $575 and $750 per month - depending on the age of the child - while residents of Kingston, Ont. shell out between $600 and $680.

The Quebec subsidies are somewhat of a double-edged sword. The province has the longest waiting lists per capita, according to Carol Dayutch, director of the Big Step Daycare in Montreal.

"Even people on welfare, or those who aren't working, are putting their kids in daycare," Dayutch says.

"It's clogging up the system, and that's why we have such high waiting lists."

Daycare operators across the country say centres could start closing without more financial support from the government.

Georgina Lemert from the Mount Royal Daycare in southwest Calgary, says that three area daycares closed within the last three months due to the high rents and maintenance costs.

"They can't make ends meet," she says. "(Staff) are stressed and burned out."

The real-estate boom is making it more profitable for owners to sell their properties than operate daycares, she says.

The half-dozen daycares in Yellowknife are also in danger of closing, according to a report released earlier this summer by Alternatives North, an advocacy group. The Range Lake area Northern Tikes Daycare could not afford to pay their rent for three months and had to fundraise to keep their doors open.