Only 17% of Toronto's licensed for-profit daycares have signed onto the $10-a-day program so far

Bibian Aguirre was elated to learn earlier this year that Ontario had signed a deal with Ottawa to join a national child-care program intending to bring fees down to an average of $10 per day by 2025.

But as the deadline for child-care centres to join the program approaches, the mother of two has learned her daycare may not take part.

Her worries will likely be shared by many other Toronto parents: about 660 of the province's 1,042 licensed daycare centres have not yet opted into the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program initiated by the federal government.

The deadline to do so this year is Sept. 1.

Right now, Aguirre's four-year-old daughter attends a licensed, for-profit centre in Toronto's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, and she had planned to enrol her younger daughter there in January.

"[Child care] can be 40 per cent of our income," Aguirre told CBC News. "Having a huge expense like daycare fees going down, it would be life-changing for me and I'm sure for many families."

The six-year, $13.2-billion federal-provincial deal announced in March promised Ontario parents a rebate for 25 per cent of their fees for this year retroactive to April 1, and a further reduction of 25 per cent starting next year.

But Aguirre is now concerned she'll miss out on the rebate and the benefits of lower fees in the future; her daycare has yet to opt in to the new program, citing a lack of information necessary to make an informed decision. 

"This is a ticking bomb," Aguirre said. "My concern [is] that the deadline is going to come and things won't happen for the daycares and for families." 

As of Wednesday, 45 per cent of Toronto's 729 licensed, non-profit child-care providers have opted in to the program, but only 17 per cent of the 313 licensed, for-profit operators have done so. Sixteen centres, both non- and for-profit, have opted out.

More than 80 per cent of child-care operators in Ontario are able to join today, although some have only recently opened applications for the program.

Many owners of for-profit centres say they are wary of joining the program because of uncertainty around how it will affect their bottom line. Another common concern raised by those interviewed was that the program provides governments with too much power to dictate how the daycares can operate. 

Maggie Moser, director of the Ontario Association for Independent Childcare Centres, said her organization represents about 200 licensed, for-profit centres in Toronto — almost none of which have opted in just six weeks ahead of the deadline. 

"Anything that we've seen in writing shows us that there will not be benefit and there will probably be harm," said Moser, who is also executive director of Blossoming Minds Learning Centre on The Danforth.