Daycare Insurance in Alberta: What Every Childcare Owner Must Know
Operating a daycare or learning centre in Alberta is rewarding work but it comes with special risks that most other businesses do not deal with. Parents trust you will take care of and promote the safety, development, and wellbeing of their children, and while an organized setting and environment can help prevent accidents or misunderstandings, sometimes they just happen. Because of this, having exactly the right daycare insurance in 2025 is not just a good idea — it’s an important protective measure for your business, your employees, and your families.
A daycare can face risks every day. A child could slip and fall. A small fire or water leak could result in a loss of materials or supplies from your classroom. A parent could perceive an incident happened and disagree with your response. Your business’s information systems could be hacked. Up to 50% of Canadian businesses, could even be faced with temporary closures which create financial burden. Even when insurance is in place, certain incidents may potentially result in profound financial damage, the loss of licencing, or extended contract termination if no insurance was in place.
Coverages Under Daycare Insurance in Alberta
Alberta daycare insurance provides peace of mind on a core basis for daycare providers. The Commercial General Liability (CGL) is an important component in this regard as it protects daycare providers against potential lawsuits from children, parents and visitors who get injured or have their property damaged while they are at the daycare facility. The CGL will also cover any damages to the daycare’s building and contents, including play equipment, furniture and learning materials.
Professional Liability coverage (also referred to as Errors and Omissions coverage) protects daycare providers for claims made against their staff for negligence or providing improper care, where proper procedures have been followed.
Business Interruption Insurance can provide extra benefits to daycare providers in the event that they are financially impacted due to a covered cause like fire or flooding.
Daycare providers need to be aware of the importance of Abuse and Misconduct Liability coverage in protecting against the potential for false allegations.
Cyber liability Insurance is growing in importance, given that many daycare providers are now relying on electronic systems to manage their operations, which can dispose of essential electronic data, expose providers to ransoms and have expenses associated with protecting their data from inappropriate access.
The requirements for both daycare centres and home daycare providers are very different. Throughout the industry, many centres and home daycare providers assume that their regular homeowner’s insurance policy covers them for any business operations, including childcare. However, most standard home insurance policies exclude any type of business operation. If a home daycare provider has not disclosed that they are operating a daycare and does not have the proper daycare business coverage, they may be denied if they ever file a claim as a daycare provider.
Daycare centres, or commercial daycare facilities, generally require much broader coverage than home daycare facilities, as they generally employ a larger number of staff members and provide a service to a greater number of children, resulting in a more significant possible exposure to risk. Finally, both home daycare providers and commercial daycare facilities may be required to provide proof of appropriate insurance by either their landlord, a financial institution or a licensing authority.
The cost of daycare insurance in Alberta will vary from approximately $700 to $3,500 annually, based on the facility’s size, the number of children cared for, the number of staff members employed, the type of daycare services offered and the daycare’s claims history. With increasing repair costs in the industry and a large increase in the number of liability claims throughout the child care industry, it has never been more important for daycare facility owners to review their daycare insurance coverage regularly and verify that they are adequately covered.
Working with the right insurance partner will make the entire process much more manageable. At A-kan, we specialize in providing daycare-specific insurance solutions for daycare centres, preschools, early learning centres and day homes across the province of Alberta. Our broad access to over 50 different insurance companies helps us to find daycare owners the most comprehensive coverage, at a price that fits within their budget, as well as provide them the assistance they need during the claims process and comply with the necessary insurance requirements.
