Petition to the Government of British Columbia: Protect and Preserve Access to High-Quality Early Childhood Education
To: Premier David Eby and Minister Lisa Beare
Cc: BC Ministry of Education and Child Care
We, the undersigned parents, caregivers, educators, and concerned citizens of British Columbia, call on the provincial government to urgently address the funding decisions threatening the survival of Lexie’s Little Bears and other early childhood education centres across BC, even not-for-profit organizations.
Under the new funding contract of the $10-a-day childcare program, exceptional programs like Lexie’s — which adhere to internationally recognized pedagogical models and go above and beyond basic care, and provide the type of inclusive childcare that allows for neurodiverse children to engage successfully with their peers in authentic ways that allow them to thrive as their true selves — are being forced out of the system. As a result:
- Families face a sudden and devastating 1000% increase in childcare costs, from ~$200/month to over $2000/month per child.
- Daycare operators are pushed into unsustainable positions, unable to continue offering a high standard of safe and quality care while paying staff fair wages.
- Staff (many of whom are parents themselves) face job loss.
- Families, particularly women, are being driven out of the workforce due to unaffordable childcare options. Beyond the systemic gender inequality and inequity that this reinforces it also negatively impacts our economy overall.
- Children are being stripped of access to nurturing, inclusive, nature-based, and/or award-winning programs. Funding access to early experiences such as these will save the government money later that they are currently spending on Pandora Street in Victoria and other similar areas across the province. More citizens would thrive from an early age and become happy, well, contributing adults.
These changes contradict the provincial and federal goals of accessible, inclusive, and high-quality childcare for all. They also breached the agreement between the BC government and the federal government that is available online outlining how the federal funds were to be used to work towards a goal of universal affordable child care by 2025 or 2026. Instead, it is 2025 and our affordable childcare is being stripped and childcare providers are being put in impossible positions, unable to speak out or stand up for themselves, as they are silenced by NDAs.
In response to Minister Beare’s recent letter, which was a blanket response to every concerned citizen who emailed her previously:
While we appreciate Minister Beare’s response, despite it being far too little, too late, and full of misinformation, it fails to acknowledge a critical truth: the recent changes to the $10/day funding model have made it financially impossible for most daycare centres, especially ones like Lexie’s Little Bears to remain in the $10-a-day program. This is not a voluntary business decision — it is a forced outcome of a rigid funding model that fails to accommodate diverse, high-quality approaches to early childhood education. It also fails to support primarily women-owned and run businesses.
We are not asking for special treatment; we are asking for a democratic conversation and transparent process that includes us in finding a practical, middle-ground solution that reflects the province’s own stated goals of universal affordablility, quality, inclusion, and accessibility in childcare. If the government refuses to fund these models fairly, it is not the providers opting out — it is the government systematically and purposefully excluding them.
We propose a practical, middle-ground solution:
Let families continue in the $10-a-day program and pay the difference in operating costs directly to their centre, if they choose to. This simple fix would allow high-quality, inclusive child care centres to stay open, while preserving parental choice and preventing the collapse of programs that go above and beyond basic care. We are also aware that we do not fully understand the new parameters of the $10-a-day contracts, since this information has purposefully been hidden from us. There is no reason why the process should be so secretive if it is truly equitable and viable.
Allowing us the opportunity for open discourse with the government will help to ensure:
- Continued affordability for families who consciously chose high-quality care.
- Survival of diverse, inclusive, and pedagogically rich childcare models in BC.
- Continuity and stability for children, especially those with additional needs.
- Support for women, educators, and small business owners like Lexie who exemplify the best of BC’s early childhood sector.
- True alignment with the commitments under the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and BC’s own childcare goals.
We urge the BC Government to communicate and engage transparently with affected families without the constraints of NDAs on our daycare operators. Please listen to our concerns, and work with us toward solutions for sustainable child care.
Do not let innovative, inclusive, and award-winning childcare programs disappear from our communities.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Laura and Priscilla Contact the author of the petition