Yet another report is highlighting the strain currently being experienced in the early childhood education system, and Newfoundland and Labrador is shown to be one of the worst in the country.

The report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, titled Not Done Yet, looks at the availability of child care spaces by postal code. It uses 2021 census information on the child population, as well as information on the number and location of such spaces at the end of 2022.

It concludes that Newfoundland and Labrador is the second worst in the country in terms of access to care, with 79 per cent of children who are not old enough to attend kindergarten living in so-called child care deserts—a term often used to reference a lack of or inequitable distribution of child care.

According to the report, there are 17,400 children in this province living in a postal code with more than three younger children per licensed child care space. By comparison, the report states that the national average of young children living in child care deserts is 49 per cent.

The province with the highest rate of child care deserts is Saskatchewan, with a provincial average of 92 per cent

PC education critic Barry Petten says the report highlights a lack of planning by the provincial government, and claims that Minister John Haggie is “in denial” about the scope of the problem.

Petten says his office is contacted daily by parents looking for child care, noting that some have turned to subletting daycare spaces with others.