On Thursday, parents whose children attend Sunnyside Day Care in Roncesvalles got some welcome news: their childcare costs are set to drop by as much as $2,000 per month, per child.
The news marks an abrupt about-face by the daycare centre.
In November, parents were dismayed to learn the centre would be opting-out of the federal childcare funding program, resulting in monthly fee increases of about 150 per cent.
But on Thursday, they were told by email that the centre has rejoined the federal subsidy program, reducing parent’s monthly fees to about $480 per child.
Roncesvalles parents aren’t the only ones to experience this rollercoaster, however.
On Friday, City of Toronto general manager Shanley McNamee told TorontoToday in an emailed statement that six other for-profit daycare centres have also recently re-enrolled in the federal funding program, after having previously opted out.
All seven have links to two businessmen, Holton Hunter and John McCallum.
The pair received significant push-back from parents and sustained media coverage after announcing the decision to opt-out of the federal program in November.
In addition to Sunnyside Day Care’s two locations, McNamee confirmed the following five additional childcare centres have also been brought back into the federal funding program: Curious Caterpillars (two locations), Alphabet Academy, Alphabet Station and Teddy Bear Academy.
TorontoToday reached out to Hunter and McCallum for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
‘A win for the community’
In front of the Sunnyside Day Care’s Roncesvalles location on Friday, three parents who spoke with TorontoToday expressed relief at operators' decision to re-enroll in the federal subsidy program.
“I’m so happy,” said Melissa Machaj, whose child attends the daycare. “I think it was the right move.”
Sasha Krsmanovic, a parent whose daughter has attended the daycare for over three years also expressed gratitude.
To accommodate the fee increases, the family had had to make lifestyle adjustments, he said. “It’s a relief, of course.”
But while all parents connected with Sunnyside Day Care who spoke with TorontoToday said they were glad for the change, two had more complicated feelings.
In December, Melissa Bruno was one of several parents who opted to remove her son from the daycare because of the planned 150 per cent fee increase.
Bruno said Sunnyside’s decision to opt back into the federal program is a “win for the community at large,” but that her children’s childcare future remains unclear.
“There’s no indication that we can retain our daycare spot,” she said. “I'm supposed to go back to work and I have nowhere to send my children.”
Bruno said she has emailed the daycare asking for clarification, but has not yet heard back.
A ‘betrayal’: Sunnyside parents
The decision by Sunnyside’s operators to withdraw the daycare from the federal funding program came in the lead up to a significant reduction in the amount of fees subsidized centres are allowed to charge.
As of January 1, the province mandated per-child fees be capped at $22 per day for children under six years old.
That change was first announced last August, prompting some childcare providers to protest in front of Queen’s Park. The combination of fees and government subsidies were not high enough to cover the cost of doing business, they argued.
Andrea Hannen, executive director of the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario said many providers found navigating the evolving regime to be burdensome and complex.
“It’s very, very bureaucracy-heavy,” she said.
On November 1, parents of children who attended Sunnyside Day Care received a letter from their childcare operator informing them the site would opt out of the federal program as of January 1.
For Bruno, whose son was in the toddler room, the letter said the new monthly fee would be $2,310 — up from the $830 rate they were paying.
The Toronto mother was shocked.
Having planned for their second child to soon start at the daycare, Bruno said her family was staring down nearly $5,000 per month in fees.
Parents push back
In early November, Bruno spoke with news outlet CP24, raising concern.
A few weeks later, a group of parents organized on a local Facebook group and sent a letter to Sunnyside Day Care’s owners, asking for a meeting to discuss the decision to opt-out of the federal program.
They cited a “profound disappointment and sense of betrayal,” arguing “the financial burden this sudden increase will place on middle-class families is unacceptable.”
In response, the centre stuck to its guns, writing a letter that blamed a lack of timely information from the provincial and municipal governments for its last-minute policy change.
On the same day the operators sent Sunnyside parents the letter, the Canadian Press reported on Horton and McCallum’s links to seven daycares that had announced their opt-out of the federal program.
According to corporate records obtained by TorontoToday, the pair are directors of each of the two locations of Sunnyside Day Care and Curious Caterpillars.
According to the Canadian Press, Teddy Bear Academy is registered by MVG Ventures, care of Hunter, and Alphabet Station and Alphabet Academy are registered with McCallum.
Families leave Sunnyside
Bruno said the response families received from Sunnyside’s operators made it clear the owners weren’t going to change their mind. So, the family looked for other options, ultimately opting for a nanny-share with another family.
Another Sunnyside parent who spoke with TorontoToday said that she, too, looked for other options after the second letter from the daycare’s operators.
She said she phoned 14 non-profit daycares that are enrolled in the federal program, but was disappointed to learn that none had space for her child.
Ultimately, she said she found a spot with another for-profit provider, which is charging the family $1,600 per month, plus a $3,000 deposit that is being paid in monthly installments.
Learning the news of Sunnyside’s enrollment in the federal program on Thursday, both mothers told TorontoToday they contacted the centre asking for their child’s spot back.
The second mother asked TorontoToday not to use her name, fearing speaking to the media would compromise her son’s chance at a spot.
Business interests?
It is not clear what prompted Sunnyside Day Care’s owners to reverse their decision.
In their Thursday letter to parents, the daycare’s operators said the change came following a “series of further conversations” with other childcare providers about the funding model and discussions with the City of Toronto.
McNamee said the city has been working with daycare providers to help them understand the nuances of the so-called cost-based funding approach that took effect in January.
As a result of those discussions, McNamee said 23 new childcare centres have applied to participate in the funding program and seven that had previously opted out have re-enrolled.
Sunnyside parents, however, have their own theories about what may have prompted the change.
Bruno speculated the “public relations s—t storm” may have played a role.
In addition to coverage by the Canadian Press and CP24, The Toronto Star also reported on the impact of Sunnyside’s opt-out on families.
Another mother said she suspects business interests may have played a role too.
Since the November funding hike announcement, the mom said some of Sunnyside’s class sizes have shrunk and that classes have been combined after a number of parents pulled their children out over the fee increases.
She speculated the owners of the business had thought that because of the centre’s long wait list and the affluent neighbourhood, parents would accept the fee hike.
“They just made a bad call,” she said.
Parents to be reimbursed
Brynne Sinclair-Waters, a parent volunteer with advocacy group Parents for Childcare, said Sunnyside’s policy reversal shows the future of childcare is with the federal funding program.
“Momentum is toward the $10-per-day program,” she said. “It is a proven approach to publicly fund a national system.”
Earlier this month, the Toronto Star reported that 92 per cent of Ontario’s childcare centres are participating in the federal program, dramatically reducing fees for parents provincewide.
At Sunnyside, parents who paid the higher rates in January will be reimbursed once City of Toronto’s funding reaches the provider, according to the letter the operator sent families.
The former Sunnyside mom said she is hopeful for the chance to soon have her kid back at a centre she loves.
“I loved the teachers. I liked their structure,” she said. “The only reason we left was a financial decision for our family.”
“I miss Sunnyside a lot.”
