TORONTO – Ontario has struck an agreement with the Canadian government to establish $10-a-day child care by March 2026.
As part of the federal 2021 budget, the feds earmarked at least $27 billion to build the country’s early learning and child care system.
The first infusion of cash from the feds, amounting to $10.2 billion, will arrive between 2025 and 2026.
Those dollars will be spent by the province over a four-year period and theoretically allow for a reduction of child care fees to “an average” of $10 per day, per child, by September 2025, according to a March 28 press release from the province.
“As a first step, all Ontario families with children five years old and younger, in participating licensed child care centres will see their fees reduced, up to 25 per cent, to a minimum of $12 per day,” the release reads.
That first reduction takes effect April 1, 2022 with rebates to parents beginning in May.
“Today’s announcement will save Ontario families thousands of dollars each year with fee reductions starting as of Friday this week,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated, in part, on Monday.
According to the federal government, fees in the province will lower further, halving by the end of the year.
“In total, fees for families will be reduced in 2022, on average, by 50 per cent, relieving parents of $1.1 billion in child care costs,” the province states in its release.
The federal government claims the average parent will save around $6,000 per child each year, thanks to the federal-provincial agreement.
The feds will dole out another $2.9 billion to the province in 2026-27, bringing the total allotment, over five years, to $13.2 billion.
Federal dollars will also support an additional 86,000 licensed early learning and child care spaces, increasing the province’s capacity from 289,000 spaces in 2019 to 375,000 by the end of 2026.
There are over 850,000 children aged five or under in the province.
In year three (2024-25), there will be a review of the finances undertaken to reconcile true costs of the national child care plan with the funding provided.
For the province’s part, $267 million is being contributed as part of the plan.
Between now and September, the province will enroll 5,500 licensed child care centres and 139 home child care agencies in the program.
“From day one, I said our government wouldn’t sign a deal that didn’t work for Ontario parents,” Premier Doug Ford stated in the province’s release.
“Given how complex Ontario’s child care system is, we wanted to get this right.”
Included in the federal funding is a wage bump for registered early childhood educators supporting children ages birth to five.
To match the increase, the province is spending $395 million to cover workers supporting ages six to 12, not included in the federal funding.
The province spends $2 billion annually on early years and child care through the Ontario Child Care and Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses tax credits, and all-day kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds — all of which will continue in light of the new agreement.
“Ontario parents are provided with a full array of options, benefits and supports for early years and child care,” states the province’s release.
The federal government began reaching agreements with other provinces and territories last summer. Ontario was the only province remaining to strike a deal with the feds.
