INDIAN HEAD — A local childcare expansion project has ground to a halt due to an administrative misunderstanding in its initial grant application, leaving families in limbo amidst a province-wide daycare shortage.
The Little Castle Childcare Centre finalized building blueprints and secured land for a larger facility to replace its current site in the basement of the Indian Head United Church. However, crews cannot break ground until the organization secures the remainder of its required down payment.
Little Castle's current facility caps enrolment at 56 children and cannot accommodate infants under 18 months old.
The proposed facility would expand total capacity to 90 licensed spots, introduce care for infants as young as six weeks old, and eliminate a waitlist that sits at more than 40 children.
Building the new centre requires a $1.1 million downpayment. The board has raised over $550,000 through community donations, local fundraising and government grants, but still faces a $505,000 deficit.
The financial bottleneck stems from a misunderstanding of the federal-provincial childcare agreement rules. Moosomin-Montmartre MLA Kevin Weedmark said the local board initially believed it only needed to apply for the net difference between its existing capacity and the new building's total capacity, rather than applying for the new facility as a standalone 90-space entity.
Because the original application only requested backing for 34 new spaces, the daycare received a capital grant of $13,360 per space and a startup grant of $1,360 per space for those 34 spots alone. No grant funding was secured for the remaining 56 spaces of the planned building. The board said it is financially impossible to construct the 90-space facility using funds allocated for only a fraction of the spots.
"We initially understood that the government grant would be for all 90 spaces, but the way legislation is written, it’s only for the additional 34 spaces," said Traci Blenkin, vice-chair of the childcare centre’s board of directors. "We’ve worked closely with the Ministry of Education and our MLA to see if anything can be done to secure the full funding but unfortunately, we’re at a standstill."
Weedmark said the board approached him last summer when members realized the mistake just as construction was slated to begin. Despite subsequent meetings between Weedmark and Education Minister Everett Hindley, the strict parameters of the federal-provincial agreement prevented the file from being reopened.
"The daycare stuff, I don't know why it's as complicated as it is," Weedmark said. "Unfortunately, just the way the federal-provincial agreement is written, because they applied for those 34 spaces and were approved for those, unfortunately, that couldn't be opened up and renegotiated."
Minister of Education, Everett Hindley spoke on the issue saying, “Due to the regulations of the federal dollars tied to the previous childcare agreement –– which there was a very, very strong push on the creation of new spaces –– my understanding is the federal government was very prescriptive with respect to where the dollars should be going –– that it was the federal rules around what the money can be used for with respect to expansion of new spaces and not for moving existing spaces.
Alternative support and fundraising
With the main grant locked, Weedmark suggested the daycare explore a provincial infrastructure loan program, though he noted the program is a general utility loan and not specifically tailored for childcare operators.
The financial burden now heavily relies on local fundraising efforts to bridge the $505,000 gap.
"There would be a significant fundraising to get where they need to be," Weedmark said. "I hope the community can rally around them and help raise those funds because I think this is very, very important."
Board member Mackenzie Webster emphasized the broader economic impact the finished facility would bring to the rural area.
"This new centre is about more than childcare spaces — it’s about supporting working families and strengthening the entire community," Webster said. "With licensed infant spaces starting at six weeks of age and a total of 90 spots, we’ll be able to better serve parents returning to work and help make Indian Head a place where young families and needed professionals can choose to live and work."
