Ottawa's already overburdened child-care system could face an unprecedented crisis if rumours of a full-time, five-day-a-week return-to-office mandate for federal public servants become reality, according to advocates and providers.
System at Breaking Point
Child-care advocates are sounding the alarm that the city's current infrastructure is incapable of handling a potential flood of new demand from parents required to be in downtown offices daily. Morna Ballantyne, executive director of Child Care Now, states the system has already passed a breaking point in terms of capacity.
This concern is echoed on the front lines. Michel Laflamme, executive director of Aladin Childcare Services in Ottawa, reports his organization alone already has a waitlist of approximately 1,000 children. A full-scale return-to-office order would cause that list to grow significantly longer, leaving many families without viable options.
A Parent's Struggle Highlights the Strain
The human impact of this potential policy shift is starkly illustrated by parents like Jarin, a federal public servant and mother of three. Even under a hybrid work model requiring only two days in the office, arranging care is a monumental challenge. Two of her children have special needs, limiting which extended-day programs can provide adequate support.
Jarin, who requested to use only her first name due to fears of professional repercussions, describes a gruelling daily commute of an hour and a half each way from her east-end Ottawa home. On her in-office days, she leaves before her children are up for school and returns long after the school day ends. While her husband's flexible schedule has been a temporary solution for school pickups, this arrangement is tenuous.
"We are in a lot of anxiety on a given weekday," Jarin said, noting her husband sometimes must leave their daughter with special needs home alone briefly while collecting her siblings. Her request for a work-from-home accommodation was denied, and the prospect of more in-office days looms as she searches for a child-care solution.
Data Shows a Growing Crisis
The scale of the existing problem is documented in official reports. An April presentation to Ottawa's community services committee revealed that while the city's child-care sector meets just over three-quarters of the demand for affordable services, the situation is deteriorating rapidly.
The number of infants and children up to five years old waiting for a space has skyrocketed by more than 300 per cent since 2019. This existing deficit means any significant new demand from public servants forced back to offices full-time would create insurmountable bottlenecks.
Ballantyne warns that parents without a space now who suddenly require one due to a return-to-office order will face extremely long waits. The uncertainty over how many federal employees would need new or expanded child-care arrangements adds to the anxiety for families and planners alike, pointing to a looming collision between federal workforce policy and local social infrastructure.