Ontario seeks to add 50K child care spots, focusing on underserved areas

Ontario committed in its March 2022 deal with the feds to create 86,000 new spaces, and since it counts spots that have opened since 2019, it has about 50,000 more to go.

Now that thousands of Ontario families are paying reduced child-care fees under the national $10-a-day program, work is underway to ensure equal and greater access to affordable care — with those in the sector pointing to workforce retention and home daycare as key to the expansion.

Ontario committed in its March 2022 deal with the federal government to create 86,000 new spaces, and since it counts spots that have opened since 2019, it has about 50,000 more to go.

The government is now consulting on its expansion plan and has given municipalities the numbers of spaces they should create, with the highest number — 7,621 — in Peel Region, which the government says is due to a large and fast-growing population, as well as socioeconomic indicators.

Municipalities now must identify priority neighbourhoods for new spaces, particularly to support low-income families, diverse communities, Francophone and Indigenous families, and those needing overnight or weekend care.

The numbers are largely based on a goal of having a ratio of one affordable child care space for every 2.7 children under the age of five, according to a provincial memo obtained by The Canadian Press.

“Working towards this ratio will significantly decrease the disparities in access to child care across the province,” the government wrote in the memo to municipal child-care service managers.

Ontario calculated the space allocations using factors such as demographic data and existing licensed child-care capacity. A portion of spaces is also aimed at boosting access for certain populations, including single-parent families, low-income families, recent immigrants and a number of women between ages 25 and 44 who aren’t in the labour force.

The availability of spaces varies so widely now because there hasn’t been an overarching plan before, said Morna Ballantyne, the executive director of advocacy group Child Care Now.