Childcare will be kept in mind in future decisions following a decision by council Tuesday.
According to the Childcare Needs Assessment, as of the 2023 municipal census, there were 8,058 kids in Lethbridge under the age of six and as of the end of December, there were roughly 2,706 licensed in Lethbridge for that age group, with the average wait time for childcare spot being 22-months. Six hundred and twenty spaces short of the one childcare space for every three children Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Government of Alberta recommends.
Council passed the recommendation of moving forward with a tier one service model during their first meeting back from summer break. This tier sees the city keeping childcare as a priority, by making sure it is included in moves such as updating the city’s Land Use Bylaw and considered in future corporate plans, strategies and policies.
Councillor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel put forward the motion and says not addressing the need for additional childcare spaces could result in the loss of economic development opportunities.
“We lose out on people moving to the community so making sure that we have adequate childcare spaces in this community is just important on so many different levels,” Schmidt -Rempel says.
According to Schmidt-Rempel, the motion passed Tuesday ensures this information and need is taken into consideration for projects and plans that go forward in the city.
Additionally, a second motion to refer a decision on the tier three service level at the fall budget discussions in November was voted down. A large part of the discussion around the motion focused on who’s jurisdiction childcare falls under, the provincial or municipal government.
During the debate, Councillor Ryan Parker said, “I don’t want to send the message to the community that this is our responsibility”, with the concern of the public thinking the city has missed the mark when it comes to this concern.
Several other councillors expressed similar concerns, with Councillor Rajko Dodic adding, “The entity that should be paying for it is not us, not our taxpayer taxes.”
Although the motion to take this next step to the fall council was defeated five to four, with Councillors Schmidt – Rempel, Campbell, Carlson and Croweson voting in favour. Schmidt-Rempel says although the motion was not successful it does not mean at a future date the discussion of implementing additional tiers and funding cannot be brought back to the table.
“We have approved it, we have acknowledged the study is valid. We are going to move forward with tier one, which is making sure childcare spaces and childcare is considered in any of our policies or procedures moving forward,” she explains. “Tier three would have us hiring an ongoing full time person and what we can do is we can look at that at a later date.”
