Unable to save George Brown’s Scotia Plaza daycare centre, parents are now dealing with the stress of finding alternative child-care locations

The Scotia Plaza child-care centre, operated by George Brown College (GBC), will be closing and some parents have been left scrambling to find alternate subsidized child-care services.

The Scotia Plaza child-care centre offers warm and consistent care for young children, with teachers who balance cognitive, social, emotional and physical aspects of experience through group planning, as well as through assisting to meet the individual differences in development and learning style, according to the Scotia Plaza website.

As reported by the Toronto Star in July, 2014, George Brown had been given notice to vacate by the end of November due to a possibility of Dream Unlimited, the Scotia Plaza landlord, turning over the lease to Kids & Company, a for-profit organization.

Ian Cooper, lawyer and father of two daughters attending the Scotia Plaza location, says, “there were some rumours among the parents about a potential closure shortly after the acquisition of Scotia Plaza by Dream, however, they were just rumours. We had also understood that any decision would be preceded by a year’s notice,” and in July they were informed that the negotiations between Dream and George Brown had not worked out.

“I and the other parents expressed a great deal of outrage given the 12 to 18 month waiting lists at most other quality day cares, and our efforts, coupled with publicity in the Toronto Star, managed to secure a one-year extension to facilitate transition,” said Cooper. “We’ve tried to find a way to see if we could fund the operation of the day care further and secure a longer-term lease extension, but that challenge appears to be insurmountable.”

On Jan. 31 the Star published another article on the child-care centre indicating that George Brown would be accepting donations to help parents save the daycare.

However, in a board of governors meeting on Feb. 11, GBC’s president Anne Sado made it clear, stating, “there been another story, which again made it again sound as though we’ve changed our position to help save the daycare, but there has been no change to our position and we are continuing to support the parents in the transition to other centres.”

The situation is “relatively mild” for Cooper and and his family, and says that “George Brown has been helpful in finding other spots for families and are doing their best to manage the timing of any transitions.”

As confirmed on the Kids & Company website, the for-profit organization will be taking over the space in the Scotia Plaza in the fall, and unfortunately for low-income families, for-profit child-care centres aren’t eligible for subsidized childcare.

“The hard part is for parents who are on subsidy, couldn’t afford to pay for Kids & Company even if they wanted to send their children there, and may not be able to find a subsidized space close to where they work,” said Cooper. “In that case George Brown may be able to find them a space at some other location, but between commuting downtown and trying to get their kids to and from daycare, those parents will likely have to deal with a great deal of additional stress.”

Not only a daycare, the facility also functions as a lab school for diploma and degree students in GBC’s school of early childhood.

Patricia Chorney Rubin, director of the school of early childhood, says that their lease at the Scotia Plaza will be up at the end of June, and for students who are currently in placement will not be affected by the closure with the school year finishing at the end of April.

Operating on nine lab schools, the centre is a training ground for student placements, employed with George Brown College staff who provide a modelled curriculum that is “one that we can control,” said Rubin.

“When we knew that the centre was going to be closing, because our lease is up at Scotia Plaza, we worked with our division and senior management to get approval to expand our capacity in our remaining centres, so while this centre is closing, we will be able to accommodate all the students doing placement.”

In the short-term, Cooper says that as far as he’s aware George Brown College has been working with the families and Toronto Children’s Services to find alternative spots at other subsidized locations, but unfortunately not everyone will be able to secure a spot close to their workplace.