Enrollment

While a tour is not required before registering your child in our program or putting your child on the waitlist, a tour of our facility and a meet and greet with either our Executive Director or Program Supervisor is strongly encouraged. If you are interested, please contact our Executive Director or Program Supervisor for more details

Please contact our Executive Director to determine whether there is space available for your child. Spaces in our infant and toddler rooms tend to fill up quickly from our wait list, but there is sometimes space for preschoolers (ages three and up).

In the event space is available ACE management staff will first turn to the waitlist and calling down the list to find the appropriate aged child based on the earliest registrant to try and fill the spaces. If the waitlist has been exhausted, ACE management will advertise the space both internally at the City of Calgary and externally when necessary. 

Upon enrolment, parents pay a non-refundable registration fee of $50, a membership/society fee of $50 per family and a $500 refundable deposit per child, all as set out in the Fee Schedule provided during enrollment. 

Note that our fees are based on 12 months of childcare service including paid holidays and are payable monthly, in advance on the first of each month.

Child care fees are paid on the first of each month by PRE-AUTHORIZED DEBITS (PAD) OR CHEQUE upon special request. 

Late fees of $5.00 per day will be applied to the balance of the account. In the event of late payments, the Childcare Agreement may be cancelled. The child’s place is then given to the next child on the waiting list. The Executive Director must be advised of any circumstance which will result in child care fees being late in any month.

Cash payments are NOT usually accepted. If you must pay by cash, the payment must be made directly to the Executive Director who must give you a receipt.

Parents will be charged a service charge of fifty ($50) dollars for any payment returned for any reason by your financial institution.  

Families are prioritized according to the following information:

A. Age Group

1) Room 1: between 3 and 19 months (10 children)

2) Room 2: between 19 months and 3 years (14 children)

3) Room 3: between 3 years and 4 years (16 children)

4) Room 4: between 4 years up to entrance to grade 1 (26 children)

B. Priority group

1) Children already enrolled (e.g. part time waiting for full time) – City employee only

2) Siblings of children already enrolled – City employee only

3) Child of a parent who is a City employee

4) Child of a parent employed by a Civic partner, NOT a City employee

5) Child of a parent who is NOT a City employee

C. Date entered on waitlist

D. Desired start date

When a space becomes available within ACE, there is an internal shuffle of children to facilitate movement/placement according to ages (e.g. children starting Kindergarten, infant moving to toddler room, etc). Once all internal movement has occurred, a vacant space is then filled from the waiting list for its specific age group.

There is a non-refundable wait list fee of $50.00. Families are only entered onto the waitlist once ACE has received the waitlist fee. 

Returning Families

Returning families will not be given priority. If families wish to withdraw their child/children from the daycare for a period and then come back at a later date (e.g. withdraw for the summer months or parental leave), they will be required to be re-added to the waitlist. They will be subject to waitlist priority assignment.

Not a City Employee

The waitlist does include families that are not City employees for two reasons: (1) If an individual is in the process of becoming a City employee, he or she can be added to the waitlist and the date is effective if his or her status changes; (2) If a space cannot be filled by a City family for any reason, it may then be offered to Non-City family.

One calendar months’ notice of intent to withdraw your child from the Centre is required in writing in order to have the $500.00 deposit refunded on the child’s last day of attendance. Failure to provide one month’s notice will result in liability for one month’s fees and forfeiture of the $500 deposit.