Advocates are calling on the B.C. government to introduce a subsidized daycare program, similar to the one offered in Quebec. (CBC)Advocates say B.C.'s child-care system is in crisis due to a lack of government funding, soaring costs and few available daycare spaces.

The summer months are the busiest, as parents scramble to find elusive daycare spots for infants and toddlers and after-school care for the start of the school year in the fall.

Daycare officials argue the situation is only getting worse, and some parents are unable to go back to work because there simply aren't any daycare spaces available.

"There's no doubt about it: Child care is in a crisis," said Crystal Janes, the program director for the Vancouver Childcare Resource and Referral Program.

"It's extraordinarily expensive, so people are not able to afford — if they can find a space — the fees."

Janes said parents pay, on average, between $750 and $1,500 a month for a licensed daycare provider.

Working for free

Natalie Pitre, who is returning to work in September, expects to pay more than $1,000 a month for care for her one-year-old son.

"You pretty much end up working for free, because pretty much everything goes toward daycare."

Others, like Margaret Hale, are scrambling to find child care.

Hale had after-school care for her eight and ten-year-old sons last year, but her daycare provider eliminated 50 spaces because of budget cuts.

Hale has now been left with a plan to alternate with other parents to share school pick-ups, but she said others have been forced to look to more extreme options.

"Providing the kids with cellphones, and have two or three of them walk home and then when they get home, lock the door and phone [their parents] and tell them they're OK," she said.

'I think it's a matter of what people are willing to pay in taxes versus what services they request'—Mary Polak, minister of children and family development

"That's an option that some parents — that's the only option they have."

Janes said she gets about 50 calls a day from parents like Hale during the summer months.

"We have heard so many stories of parents who have not returned to work, simply because they don't have child care," she said.

Calls for subsidized daycare

Janes and other advocates are calling on the provincial and federal governments to fund a subsidized daycare system, much like the one in Quebec.

There, parents pay just $7 a day for up to 10 hours of childcare, including one meal and two snacks.

"The problem here is that we have a provincial government that refuses to recognize that child care is a fundamental piece to support working families and quality child care is good for children," said Sharon Gregson, a Vision Vancouver school trustee and a child-care advocate.

"We have a federal government that has walked away from young children and working families, and those two pieces combined have left families in a crisis situation."

Gregson said across B.C., there are only enough child care spots for about 20 per cent of the children who need it.

"There should be legislation that supports children's entitlement to access to early care and learning, the same way the School Act entitles them to care and education from the ages of five to 18."

Subsidized child care costly

However, officials argue subsidized daycare does not come cheap.

The Quebec government committed $1.8 billion last year to provide daycare, while the B.C. government spends an average of $300 million per year.

"I think it's a matter of what people are willing to pay in taxes versus what services they request, so again we've continued to increase and expand our child care service in B.C.," said Children and Family Development Minister Mary Polak.

The provincial government has made significant improvements in the daycare system since 2005, she said.

"Since that time we've seen the creation of more than 6,500 new licensed childcare spaces and … we've put in another $26 million of funding over the next three years … and that's a pretty hefty increase since 2001."

Polak said parents who make less than $38,000 a year can receive up to $14,000 in child care subsidies.