Based on coverage from paNOW and CBC.
Saskatchewan’s $10-a-day child-care program has a new rule as of July 1, and it’s already putting flexible, part-time care in the crosshairs.
The change affects how daycares get the Parent Fee Reduction Grant, the provincial funding meant to cover the gap between what parents pay ($10 a day) and what it actually costs to run a space. Operators and the Saskatchewan NDP say the update will squeeze out casual and part-time families, especially shift workers. The province says it’s about keeping the system stable and financially sustainable.
Saskatchewan $10-a-day daycare funding change
Under the old setup, a licensed daycare space could effectively be “stacked” across more than one family if schedules didn’t overlap. That could include kindergarten kids who attend on alternating days, children of shift workers who don’t need care every weekday, or a drop-in child filling a spot when another child was absent.
As of July 1, Saskatchewan will only pay the monthly Parent Fee Reduction Grant once per licensed space, no matter how many part-time or casual kids use that space at different times.
The practical result: if a centre uses a licensed spot flexibly, it may no longer receive grant money tied to those extra part-time arrangements.
Rocanville daycare says casual families lose out
Cara Werner (also spelled Warner in some coverage), executive director of Dream Big Childcare in Rocanville and chair of Child Care Now Saskatchewan, says the change hits centres like hers that have been stretching limited licensed capacity to meet real-life demand.
Werner said Dream Big is licensed for 45 spaces, but supports 82 families over the year by offering casual spaces on top of full-time care. With the grant only flowing for the 45 licensed spaces, she says families outside that core group will either lose access or face higher costs.
Werner told reporters that for casual families beyond the licensed count, the centre would effectively be left with only the parent’s $10-a-day fee to cover care. She described that as about “a dollar an hour” over a 10-hour day, arguing it doesn’t match the government’s “same fee for same service” approach.
NDP warns impact on shift workers
The Saskatchewan NDP has leaned hard into the shift-work angle, with early learning and child care critic Joan Pratchler arguing the change will land on people who can’t rely on a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule.
Pratchler pointed to nurses, first responders, and other shift workers who depend on flexible child-care arrangements. She also said daycare operators are being pushed into “impossible decisions” about whether to keep serving casual families without adequate funding.
At a news conference, Pratchler called on the Saskatchewan Party government to halt the change and consult more with families and providers affected.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education defends July 1 rules
In statements reported by multiple outlets, the Ministry of Education said the July 1 changes are “designed to stabilize, protect, and sustain the child care system in the province.”
The province also framed the move as a shift away from rapid expansion and toward “stabilization and sustainability,” with the goal of keeping the system strong and accessible.
On the question of new federal money, Saskatchewan said recent funding announced by Ottawa does not remove the need for the changes. The federal government has said provinces and territories will receive an extra $5.4 billion over two years, but Saskatchewan says it doesn’t yet know how much it will receive or how those dollars must be used. The province’s position is that the extra federal money is meant to address existing pressures to maintain the current system, not expand it.
Pratchler argues the government should use whatever additional federal funding comes to Saskatchewan to roll back the changes.
What families and providers watch next
For parents, the immediate question is whether their daycare can still accommodate part-time schedules, drop-ins, or rotating work weeks without pushing costs back onto families or cutting access altogether.
For operators, the pressure point is whether the funding model still works if flexible care no longer comes with grant support beyond the strict licensed-space count. Politically, the NDP is pushing for a pause and more consultation, while the province is signalling it intends to stay the course on sustainability.
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