Open day-care spots remain hard to find
By Krista Charke
Daily News/canada.com
May 5, 2009

….Parents need to find quality child care, but in a country that has no national standards, no structure and no national accountability for the caregivers who look after the children, the search can be a very stressful process.

Nanaimo's child care crunch has babies on waiting lists even before they are born. PacificCare, the non-profit group that helps parents find child care, is worried without more licensed caregivers, parents will feel pressured to leave their children with anyone who has space…..

Parents can't start looking too soon. Barclay knows of women who started their search while they were pregnant.

"It could take up to a year to find someone. Parents who think they're going to start looking and find someone on Monday are dreaming," said Barclay.

It's a rare day when Fillmore's phone doesn't ring with a call from a parent who is looking for a day-care space for their child. ….Her heart goes out to all the parents who call, but the most comfort she can give them is to put them on her waiting list and encourage them to call back every few months to see if there have been any changes…..