Daycares in B.C. are no longer allowed to charge waitlist fees [Video]

Licensed child-care providers in British Columbia can no longer charge families a fee to be on their waitlists as of April 1. 

The province says the fees have been eliminated to reduce the overall costs associated with child care, as part of funding guidelines released by the B.C. government in December that will take effect over the coming year.

“Child care is expensive enough without fees adding up before families have secured child care,” Mitzi Dean, minister of child care,  said in a news release. 

The province says some providers were charging non-refundable fees between $25 and $200 to hold a spot on their waitlists. 

Parent Rory Richards said in a news release that she’s spent thousands of dollars on waitlist fees for her three children. 

“I look forward to when there are enough licensed child care spaces for families so we won’t need to worry about waitlists at all,” she said. 

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