It’s been 18 months since the County of Haliburton told the public it was in talks with Haliburton Wee Care, Habitat for Humanity, and the City of Kawartha Lakes about redeveloping the childcare property on County Road 21 outside Haliburton for expanded daycare, housing, and potential other uses, such as Habitat for Humanity.
Since December 2023, the waitlist for childcare here has grown from 4.2 years to six, according to CKL manager of human services Alyson Truax.
There are only two licensed daycares in the Highlands – Wee Care in Haliburton and Compass Early Learning and Care in Minden.
Wee Care administrator Denise Wolm said the Wee Care waitlist is long; and with school ending later this month, they have been inundated with requests. While they have secured space at J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School in Haliburton for about 55 kids this summer, it is a temporary solution for JK/SK school-aged.
“Basically, when you get pregnant, you should put your child on a list, before you tell anybody. If you find out you are pregnant at four weeks, put them on the list,” Wolm said.
She added she had not heard anything about the redevelopment since the retirement of former County CAO Mike
Rutter, until very recently.
Wee Care to run summer daycare at JDH
However, current CAO Gary Dyke and director of economic development and tourism, Scott Ovell, have told
The Highlander work is ongoing.
Dyke and Ovell said the County has to have a phase two environmental study on the property and consultant Greer Galloway has been working on that this spring. They said the next stage is site development. From there, talks can resume with Habitat for Humanity, which has expressed interest in potentially building at the site.
Pressed for timelines, neither wanted to commit. When asked if it would be “years,” Ovell said once the
environmental study is complete, he expects a report to council mid-to-late summer, then talks at the county.
“In the fall, some substantive conversations about what it looks like moving forward, and what that partnership with Habitat for Humanity could look like.” He added, “at least 12-18 months before we get a shovel in the ground, but stranger things have happened.”
Dyke added they are working with CKL to try to get a delegation with the minister of education at the Association
of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in August.
“To talk about daycare and some things we think the province can do to expedite the process to allow us to get
more daycare spaces in a much more effective timeline, and efficiency for the operators. The insidiousness of a four-year waitlist on a daycare space isn’t lost on anybody,” Dyke said.
Need for housing
When it comes to housing, former County director of planning Steve Stone said Dysart et al has said the site
could accommodate 38 residential units. Habitat for Humanity put that number at 63.
Stone, in a December 2023 report, noted the County had experienced a 300 per cent increase in the number of
households waiting for community housing in the last 10 years; rental rates had risen by 72 per cent for one-bedroom apartments, and 23 per cent for two-bedroom apartments since 2018; only 50 units of affordable housing were in development towards the target of 750. He added construction costs were making building more prohibitive.
He noted Habitat for Humanity has advantages over other developers as they are a registered charity that can receive donations. They estimate they can develop units for about two-thirds the cost of a traditional builder as they have preferential purchasing agreements with various suppliers.
Truax said, “the City of Kawartha Lakes continues to work with interested service providers to expand the childcare system, including new spaces in Haliburton County. New licensed home childcare spaces may become available over the next few months.”
She added they are open to hearing from community members interested in providing high quality, affordable
licensed childcare to residents.
With the space at JDH, Wolm is hopeful of placing 25 JK and SK students and 30 school-aged, if she can get the staff. For the regular daycare, Wolm said they are licensed for 48 pre-school and 10 toddlers. She said locals are aware of the issue, but newcomers to the County are surprised to learn about the lack of space. There are more than 40 children on the pre-school waitlist, and more than 40 on the toddler one. At $17 a day per child for pre-school and $17.48 per toddler, the spaces are in-demand.
“We have a huge property here that should be developed,” Wolm said.
