Letter to All Candidates from PEC Needs Childcare

Re: Prince Edward County Needs Child Care Now

The following letter was emailed on October 5th 2022 to 33 candidates (for mayor and councillor), from pecneedschildcare@gmail.com. Results will be posted post October 12.

Dear candidates,

We are writing to you as a group of parents and voters who are concerned about the state of child care in Prince Edward County (PEC) - specifically, the critical shortage of licensed child care spaces for children aged 0-4.

The County currently has two licensed child care centres, operated by The Hub Child & Family Centre, with a combined 120 child care spaces.¹ As of this past summer, a staggering 185 children were on the waiting list for spaces at these centres ², with wait times lasting months, and in some cases a year or more. Having reached capacity at its two centres, the Hub can only add child care spaces by expanding its licensed home child care program. Currently, there are only six licensed home child care providers across the County, with ongoing efforts to recruit more.

We know that the increased difficulty our families face in accessing licensed child care is due to the accumulation of several pressures, including:

the added challenge for a community where many parents have non-standard work schedules (e.g. part-time, evenings, or seasonal);
the struggle to recruit and retain Registered Early Childhood Educators to work and live in PEC;
a population that is once again increasing (including youth), after more than a decade of decline;
an influx of 80+ children under age 9 who permanently relocated to PEC with their families during the pandemic.³

Lack of child care is a well-understood barrier to participation in the workforce. We have heard countless stories from local parents whose livelihoods have been affected. Some have had to quit their jobs, or decline employment opportunities due to the shortage of child care spaces. Some families have ultimately even had to relocate to other communities where child care was more readily available. For a community that is struggling to attract and retain skilled employees across all sectors, these trends are deeply concerning.

Access to high quality child care can help protect against negative impacts on the key domains of early development: health, learning, and behaviour. A concerning 37% of Hastings Prince Edward preschoolers are vulnerable in one or more domains of early development (compared to the provincial average of 30%).⁴ We hope you understand how important it is for our elected representatives to advocate for our community’s youngest and most vulnerable members.

The Municipality must take urgent action to increase the number of licensed child care spaces in PEC. Beyond that, the number of spaces must continue to grow in conjunction with current population growth trends. Without long-term planning and action, the socioeconomic implications for the County could be profound.

We are asking all candidates to complete the survey linked here, in order to share with voters the extent to which they will, if elected, advocate for measures to address the dearth of licensed child care spaces in PEC. The results of this survey will be shared broadly on community platforms, to assist the electorate with its decision making prior to the upcoming election. Please complete this survey by Wednesday, October 12th at noon.

We thank you for your attention and welcome your questions and further discussion; please contact us at pecneedschildcare@gmail.com.

Signed,

PEC Needs

Child Care

1‘Demand for child special needs resources from PELASS runs higher in PEC.” The Picton Gazette, 3 March 2021.

2 The Hub Child & Family Centre interview, August 2022

3The County Foundation. Prince Edward County’s Vital Signs 2022.

4The County Foundation. Prince Edward County’s Vital Signs 2022.