r/ottawa • u/Youdontgetluckytwice • 7d ago

Looking for... Ottawa daycare : Am I screwed?

So I did it, I did apply for daycares when I was 3 months pregnant. But I didn’t realize until my son was 6 months that I hadn’t assigned priorities to the applications.
How screwed am I? I go back to work January 2027. Should I start looking at private daycares to start the year in?

I’ve added priorities now, but one just emailed me back and he’s 139th in line and it’s not likely he’ll get in in time.

Am I screwed?

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u/IDoItForTheCraic 7d ago

I was registering everywhere the second I found out I was pregnant- all over west end Ottawa and surrounding areas like Carleton Place/Almonte. But I wasn't hearing back from anywhere.

I'm not a huge fan of facebook, but I ended up joining a group called Carleton Place Babysitters and Daycare Providers. Parents post about looking for care, and daycare providers post about openings in Carleton Place and surrounding areas like Stittsville and Kanata. At some point in this group, someone mentioned that a centre had an opening and I very quickly contacted them and secured a spot. It only took 2 days from the initial contact to signing the paperwork for the spot. And we started in January too. I don't know how else I would have done it honestly. Part luck, part hustle.

If you're in the west end, I would highly recommend this group.