Childcare management software for Alberta centres
CentreBloom gives Alberta centres one Canadian-built platform for attendance and ratios, billing and fee tracking, waitlists and enrolment, staff records and Canadian payroll — with children's and families' data hosted in Canada. It keeps the everyday records a licensed Alberta centre relies on tidy and in one place. It does not apply for grants, file subsidy claims, or report to the ministry, and it isn't a licensing or tax-filing service.
Last reviewed by the CentreBloom editorial team · How we research and update this
What Alberta centres get
- Attendance & child:staff ratio tracking
- Enrolment, waitlists & demos
- Billing, invoices, fee tracking & online payments
- Staff records & Canadian (Alberta) payroll — CPP, EI, tax, T4s
- Family communication & daily feed
- Data hosted in Canada
- Multi-location management
Records that support the Affordability Grant & subsidy
Under the Canada-wide agreement, Alberta funds licensed programs through the Child Care Affordability Grant — an operating grant for licensed daycares, out-of-school care, preschools and family day home agencies. Programs that receive it charge the flat parent fee set by the grant rather than a fee they set themselves, with separate amounts for full-time and part-time attendance. Families may also qualify for the income-tested Child Care Subsidy. The current fee amounts and eligibility rules are set by Alberta and change — check the Affordability Grant funding guide for the figures that apply to you.
CentreBloom does not apply for grants, file subsidy claims, or report to the ministry — those run through the province. What it does is keep the underlying records tidy: enrolment, daily attendance, and the parent fees charged and collected, so your reporting and reconciliation are quick.
- Exportable per-child daily attendance history
- Parent fees charged and payments received, per family
- Enrolment, status and start/withdrawal dates in one roster
- Staff wage records from payroll runs
Attendance & ratios for a licensed Alberta centre
Licensed centres operate under Alberta's Early Learning and Child Care Act and keep daily attendance and safe ratios. CentreBloom's check-in (staff, or a kiosk families use with a code/QR) records exact in/out times in your local timezone, shows a live ratio indicator, and exports attendance for any date range — useful day to day and for the records reviews ask about.
Billing & fees under Schedule A
With grant-set parent fees, keeping a clean record of exactly what each family is charged and pays matters. Invoice families, take card payments online, set up recurring auto-pay, and send receipts and reminders automatically by in-app, email and (optionally) SMS.
Payroll built for Canada
Staff check-ins flow into timesheets, and payroll is calculated with CPP, EI and federal + Alberta provincial income tax using current CRA (T4127) formulas, with year-end T4 preparation — less manual calculation, built for a Canadian centre. CentreBloom is not a certified tax-calculation service; verify amounts against the CRA calculator before paying.
Enrolment & waitlists
Capture demo/trial requests, run a waitlist, and convert a family to an enrolled child in a couple of clicks — with the enrolment and start-date records that funding and licensing paperwork ask for kept alongside everything else.
Your families' data stays in Canada
Children's and families' records are hosted on Canadian infrastructure (see our sub-processors for the full picture) — a simple answer when Alberta families ask where their data lives.
One centre or many
Run a single centre or several under one login, each with its own children, staff, rooms and billing — so a growing Alberta operator isn't juggling separate tools per location.
Frequently asked questions
Does CentreBloom manage the Affordability Grant or Child Care Subsidy?
No. It keeps the enrolment, attendance and parent-fee records those programs rely on, so reporting is easier — but it does not apply for grants, file subsidy claims, or report to the ministry on your behalf.
Does it handle Alberta payroll?
Yes — CPP, EI and federal + Alberta provincial income tax from staff check-ins using current CRA formulas, plus T4 preparation. It is not a certified tax service; verify figures against the CRA calculator before paying.
Is it a licensing or compliance-reporting tool?
CentreBloom keeps records that help at licensing time — attendance, ratios, staff and child records, documents — but it does not itself report to the ministry or manage your licence.
Where is our data stored?
The primary database and customer records are hosted in Canada. Some supporting services (e.g. payments, email, SMS) process limited information through sub-processors, some outside Canada — see our Sub-processors page.
Sources
Factual claims on this page trace back to the sources below. Government programmes and vendor products both change — check the current details at the source before relying on them.
- Affordability Grant — licensed child care programs — Government of Alberta
- Alberta child care affordability grant funding guide (current Schedule A parent fees) — Government of Alberta
- Child Care Subsidy Program — Government of Alberta
Alberta's grant and subsidy programmes, and the parent fee amounts set under them, are provincial rules that change. They are summarised here for context, not as advice — check the current funding guide before relying on any figure. CentreBloom keeps records; it does not apply for grants, file subsidy claims or report to the ministry on your behalf.
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