Mama in the City

A blog about raising my family in downtown Vancouver

The Cost Of Childcare In Vancouver: Part 2

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how much we paid in daycare fees, $80/day for a licensed at home day care, and it continues to be one of my most read posts. Google tells me that many other people are hitting the internet to find out how much does daycare cost in Vancouver too. Check out that blog post here. Childcare was a hot topic for Vancouver mom bloggers when I met with our Premier last May to talk about issues that effected us, and the cost of childcare was a common topic that many mothers brought forward. A few months after that I even did an interview in my living room with the CBC on the lack of at work daycares in Vancouver. Childcare is one of those things that gets us hot and bothered when it is our current issue but as our children get older we seem to age out of this hot topic.

Going back to work my schedule was different than when I went off on maternity leave. I had been working a responsive shift schedule and most of my shifts fell within Thursday-Monday. So, we booked Ben in at his $80/day at home daycare for Mondays and Thursday. Leaving my husband to solo parent on the weekends that I worked. Basically saving us at least another $160 a week.

This time around I had a mixed schedule and my weekday work days are variable. There is no set days that I work and that makes child care harder to work out. Plus, Ben goes to a morning Jr K program and pick up and drop off had to be factored in too. This time around we looked to Nannies On Call and after a few emails back and forth we figured out a plan that would work for us. We now have an amazing nanny who has all these wonderful qualifications and is a perfect fit for Ben and Josie. I book her about a month in advance and we pay her an hourly wage of $16/hr and have her for 8 hour days. Luckily my husband can be a little bit flexible with his work schedule on the days I'm at the hospital. Which is how we get away with the 8 hours.

Ben & Josie out about Vancouver with the nanny


Morning playtime at the open gym in Mount Pleasant


An afternoon of visiting the horses at Stanley Park


So much activity makes my two so sleepy! Napping on the horse and carriage ride


From what I gather from friends, nannies in Vancouver make around $12-16/hr depending on their qualifications, if they are private or through an agency, and how many children they are taking care of. For us, the $16/hr gets us a nanny who has been pre screened and has First Aid/CPR. Our nanny is amazing and I love love love her so much. She takes my kids on fantastic adventures and has this genuine enthusiasm for spending the day with them. If my children are well taken care of while I'm working, I'm able to take better care of my own labouring mamas.

10 comments:

We are paying $15/hr for our nanny, P/T. She doesn't have her First Aid/CPR *yet* but she shares our faith and values, and Little L *loves* her. We tried NOC but found the rates kind of expensive and the nannies were not all native English speakers, plus it was difficult to get the same nanny all of the time unless we committed to a contract (which we weren't ready for at that point).

I think our rates are low compared to what others pay. I've heard $20/hour for some of my other friends.

March 28, 2013 at 11:59 AM  
Unknown said...

Hi Mrs. Loquacious! Yes, we are using our nanny from N.O.C. It worked out so nicely for us. We book the same nanny, always in advance though and not short call. She is also a preschool teacher and you can totally tell just by how she deals with my oldest. We did get a 'plan' because it was cheaper than their regular booking fee (which is expensive in my opinion). So, we also pay around $8 for the agency to book our nanny each time but that also sends her to us with coverage. So, I'm happy paying the $8 booking fee. SO happy to hear you are happy happy with your PT time nanny too. Makes a world of difference when you are happy with who is watching your kids!

March 28, 2013 at 12:50 PM  

I'm moving there! LOL. I nanny in WI and am paid about $9/hr however I do take my child with me to work so that's worth the pay cut IMO though.

March 28, 2013 at 6:26 PM  
Unknown said...

Hey Molly, Bringing your kid to work is a huge plus for sure. If you did that here in the city you would still make more than $9....but your cost of housing would be more too (so expensive!). So, maybe in the end you would just come out the same!

March 29, 2013 at 9:15 AM  

$12-$16 is pretty low for a full time nanny in Vancouver... I am a full time Vancouver nanny and I make more than $20 an hour. I also work part time for nanny's on call where I am more than happy to make $16 an hour for extra cash. $16 is too low for me for a full time job though!

April 1, 2013 at 2:53 PM  
Unknown said...

Hi @Vancouvernanny, yes $12. Can you believe it? It seems rather low to me. I know a friend who has a private nanny who is part time and she pays her $12/hr or $65 flat rate for spending the night 7P-8A with her 1 school aged daughter. Also, have chatted to some out of country nannies from Australia who were collecting $12/hr for 2 kids. Wow.

April 1, 2013 at 8:09 PM  

I chose part-time daycare for my son when he hit 3. It's $350 a month, half-time. The other days, I take him on outings and/or big rundarounds. If he was in a full-time need situation, I like the adventurous nanny scenario. The days I have him, I do things that a daycare could never provide for him. Anyway, sounds like an awesome nanny. Before you know it, they're in school full-time. *sigh*

April 3, 2013 at 7:06 PM  
Dave said...

Great post. Thanks for sharing this to us and keep posting. This will really help parents in choosing the best child care.

August 22, 2013 at 2:02 AM  
sinngh160 said...

I was surprised to learn the same about your blog--- I loved it.I am a big fan of your blog.

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November 5, 2013 at 10:16 PM  

The cost is very reasonable in Vancouver hourly. But, when you consider the monthly costs, it can actually get quite pricey. It's important to check for reputable daycares and do comparisons because costs will be similar, but level of care will not.

November 10, 2013 at 6:24 PM  

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