Now that daycare is cheaper in Ontario, demand is up. Are working parents getting squeezed out?

Demand for daycare spots in Ontario has grown since the province began subsidizing childcare fees by more than 50 per cent, and it's leaving working families with kids languishing on wait lists with no end in sight. 

Many spaces are going to families who are putting their older kids in daycare while on parental leave to care for younger siblings, a more palatable option now that daycare is cheaper, some believe.

Mom of three Kathleen Tevlin, 34, of London, Ont., returned to the job she's held for 14 years with the provincial government after an 18-month maternity leave this past December. Despite placing her daughter, Clara, on a centralized city wait list as soon as she knew the pregnancy was viable in April 2021, she has not been offered a suitable spot for her.

"The system seems to have entirely collapsed," said Tevlin. "They're telling me that my 18-month-old probably won't even get a spot in September when all the preschoolers go up to JK."

Parents who are going back to work should get priority over those currently on maternity or paternity leave, Tevlin said. 

For now, she and her husband, Ryan, are relying on their parents to care for Clara and the couple's three-year-old-year old son, Levi. 

"It's amazing how many children are in the care of their grandparents right now," said Tevlin's mother Luella McKnight, 63, who has been caring for her two grandchildren two days a week and has been meeting other grandparents doing the same.

The Tevlins take turns working from home so they can care for the kids while they're on the clock.

"We try to get some kind of work in. It's a lot," Tevlin said. 

The couple is also using vacation days to make up for the child care shortfall. "We are hemorrhaging vacation time by taking a vacation day each week," she said.

"I'm pretty frustrated," said Tevlin. "We've had a lot of talk in our household of whether I need to quit my employment to watch the kids."

Demand for licensed child care has been high for some time, and will only increase as licensed child care becomes more affordable, said Trevor Fowler, London's director of child care and early years. It costs families about $25 per day to put a preschooler in care now.

"We connect regularly with operators and they're sharing that they see more and more families reaching out looking for care."

"The city is working closely with the Ministry of Education and operators to expand the number of local licensed child care spaces for families," he said.