Calgary childcare centres see long waitlists amid staffing shortages

As more Calgarians return to the office, parents are searching for a place to drop off their kids, but some childcare providers say they just don’t have the staff to keep up with demand.

“Across the province … it’s actually across the country. We are dealing with this everywhere. There is a workforce shortage,” explained Annalise Yuzda, the vice president of childcare at the YMCA for northern Alberta.

Yuzda says they have a waitlist of about 900 people across their organization, and the list grows every day.

She says something needs to be done to entice more people to become childcare providers, so parents can get back to work.

WATCH: CityNews’ Jasmine Vickaryous reports on long waitlists some Calgary childcare centres are faced with amid significant staffing shortages

“Families can’t come back. The economy can’t recover without childcare. We’ve learnt that throughout the pandemic how important it is,” she explained.

Rami Sarji, the co-owner of AlphaBeeZ Childcare Centre, says business was slow for him and his wife since opening last summer but government subsidies and the lifting of the work from home order has caused business to boom.

“We have seen a significant increase in inquiries and demands,” he said.

Now his challenge is finding qualified staff to keep up with the growth of the business.

“You have to catch up with the ratio, so you can’t accept more kids until you find the right fit for these kids.”

He says education requirements seem to be a deterrent for people to start working in childcare but is hopeful that he will find qualified staff soon.