More than 150 families in east Ottawa have been told their subsidized daycare centres are being shut down.
The city informed parents who use who use Gloucester's Early Excellence Centre and the Orleans Child Care Centre of the cancellation on June 7. Parents have until early August to find alternate arrangements.
Linda Charlebois pays just 10 per cent of the regular childcare fee to send her five-year-old son Michael to the subsidized daycare in Orleans.
"I'm a single mom. I can't afford a full-fee spot right now for a child, $800 dollars a month," Charlebois said. "My first reaction was, OK, no problem, this is our city right? We pay taxes."
She was told to put her name on the waiting list. Parents are able to seek out other subsidized child care spots, but they could be quite far away from the child's home and school.
Perhaps hit hardest by the news was Uttra Bhargava, who has run the two non-profit centres for 25 years. When she was served with the termination notice, she received a swift response from city officials.
"This is final, if you want to talk to me about transition, the transition of the children that's all you can talk about, but otherwise this is final," she said she was told.
Parent Todd Gunning said now it's time to figure out what to do about it.
"Obviously there was a reason, why does it matter? Let's work it out, figure it out and fix it," he said.
Parents have already held two meetings about the closures. There has been no word from the city as to whether new centres will open in the east end to make up for the spaces lost.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Natalie Johnson
