A new report by Alberta Children's Services says many day cares in the province are operating at less than half capacity because they can't find workers.

The province surveyed hundreds of day-care providers and found 84 per cent were having difficulties finding qualified workers, according to a report released Wednesday.

The province surveyed child-care providers and found 84 per cent were having difficulties finding qualified workers.
(CBC News)

"If you love it it's the best job in the world. I couldn't imagine doing anything else, but I've never experienced anything as frustrating as what we're going through right now," said Debra Paufler, who works at Kinder Campus day care in Edmonton.

"It's been getting progressively worse for the last two years. It seems like there isn't even young people going into the [training] programs."

Demand outstripping supply

Nearly nine out of 10 child-care operators surveyed for the report said demand is outstripping the supply of child-care spaces.

Critical shortages in child-care spaces were reported in rural, aboriginal, francophone and northern communities, as well as in rapidly growing towns and cities such as Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Calgary and Cochrane, according to the report.

"In every focus group, operators indicated that they were running at less than full capacity because they are unable to recruit and retain qualified staff. The problem is particularly acute for infant spaces, which require higher staff-to-child ratios," reads the report.

Paufler says the report, which was sent to the federal government, highlights the need for Ottawa to inject more money into the child-care sector.

"They backed away from the national child-care plan that was going to put an awful lot of money into the provincial hands. Granted, child care is a provincial jurisdiction, it's not federal, but it's a national issue."

For the report, the province surveyed 580 child-care operators, employers and parents through an online survey and held discussions in Lethbridge, Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton and Fort McMurray.

Number of day-care spaces falling

Despite the province's booming population growth, day-care spots in Alberta dropped seven per cent between 1992 and 2004, according to Statistics Canada.

In 2004, the province had one day-care spot for every 3.4 mothers with preschool-aged children.

Alberta has a program to help day cares top up wages of workers and the amounts were increased in October. Lesser-trained staff earn an extra 64 cents an hour. Those with the highest level of training can make nearly $3 an hour more.