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REGINA — Some Saskatchewan daycare operators say the province’s new child-care agreement is hitting parents with higher, unexpected fees.
They say they found out this week not all children who turn six this year will continue to be covered for $10-a-day care until the end of their kindergarten year.
The province says those who turn six after April 1 will be covered, but pupils who turn six before then won’t be.
It’s resulted in some parents now paying full price, which the Opposition NDP says ranges from $30 to $85 a day.
“It’s very frustrating,” Cara Werner, the executive director of Dream Big Child Care in Rocanville, Sask., told reporters at an Opposition NDP news conference.
“We keep advocating for the families of Saskatchewan and they just keep getting the short end of the stick.”
Last November, Saskatchewan signed a new agreement with Ottawa on child care. The terms had said coverage for six-year-olds in kindergarten would start during the 2026-27 year, with the agreement taking effect on April 1.
Operators were under the impression coverage would apply to children who turn six before April 1, Werner said.
Bailey Fleck, a director of Weldon Childcare in Bienfait, Sask., said they found out about the actual age rules in an email this week.
“We were not able to provide those families one-month notice of their fee change,” she said. “We were just kind of blasted with this information and parents weren’t notified.
“It was just sent to the directors to deliver the bad news to families.”
Education Minister Everett Hindley told reporters the provisions in the agreement prevent the province from funding children who turn six before April 1.
“You’d be asking us to reopen the agreement with the federal government … that doesn’t happen in just a few days,” he said.
He added he respects the concerns of parents and operators.
“When it comes to the new child-care agreement, this is what we were able to get,” he said. “We tried to get as much as we could.”
NDP child-care critic Joan Pratchler said the Saskatchewan Party government could make it right by providing an emergency retroactive payment.
“He’s the minister. He has the power to do that and he needs to do that,” she said. “If he needs to make some minor adjustments, just do it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2026.
Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press
