York Region said it is managing the implementation of $10-a-day childcare despite concerns from the province and some municipalities about growing wait-lists.
The Ministry of Education and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario wrote to the federal government regarding concerns about the program’s implementation. Ontario’s current commitment under the system includes a 70 per cent non-profit and a 30 per cent for-profit space ratio, which the province is calling to be removed as it is leading to the denial of spaces.
However, York Region acting commissioner of community and health services Lisa Gonsalves said that ratio is being maintained in York Region.
“To date, York Region has not experienced challenges maintaining the provincial requirements related to the allotment of childcare spaces in not-for-profit/for-profit facilities,” Gonsalves said.
The federal government implemented a Canada-wide early learning and childcare system over the past few years, making deals with the provinces to fund cheaper services. The agreement with Ontario was struck in 2022, with 92 per cent of spaces for those five and younger now enrolled in the program as of December 2023, according to the province.
The agreement also lays out a goal of creating 86,000 new childcare spaces for children five years old and younger. But the province is struggling to create spaces to meet demand. According to the letter, the province has created less than a third of the spaces it committed to make within the program as of 2026. While the program has created 51,000 new spaces so far, only 25,500 of those are within the $10-a-day system.
"While Ontario recognizes the important role that not-for-profit providers play in the childcare system, these operators cannot fill the capacity alone," Ontario Minister of Education Todd Smith and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) wrote.
The province and AMO said that the ratio of for-profit to non-profit operators has hampered the growth of childcare spaces. They have also said that waitlists have significantly increased since the advent of the program.
Municipalities are tasked with administering the program locally, with York Region being the service system manager for the system. Within York Region, the municipality has said 90 per cent of current operators have already enrolled in the program, representing more than 37,000 operators.
But the region hopes to get more spaces allotted, Gonsalves said.
“York Region only received a limited number of new CWELCC-funded childcare from the province,” the region said. “The region continues to advocate to the provincial government for additional child care spaces to meet the growing needs in the community.”
Neighbouring communities have faced struggles under the program. The letter said Peel Region needs the most new childcare spaces but has had to turn down more than 2,000 potential spaces because they were for-profit.
The letter also said waitlists have ballooned, with Kawartha Lakes now spending an average of 6.4 years waiting for licensed childcare, up from an average of 3.7 before Ontario joined the program.
— With files from Canadian Press
