The federal government is extending its child-care agreement with the province Ontario adding an additional $12B in funding. <\/p>\n
VAUGHAN \u2014 Ontario and the federal government have agreed to extend the national affordable child-care program in the province for another four years, but it comes with no promises of further lowering the fees parents pay.<\/p>\n
The province is one of only two, including Alberta, that had not reached longer-term deals beyond the program\u2019s initial five years, and securing funding until at least 2031 will give operators and parents some certainty.<\/p>\n
But what it may not do is see the program live up to its signature goal \u2013 lowering parent fees to an average of $10 a day.<\/p>\n
While about half of the provinces are offering average fees at that level, Ontario\u2019s are an average of $19 a day, capped at $22. In its new four-year agreement with the federal government, Ontario has committed to maintain fees at that level until June 30, 2027.<\/p>\n
What happens after that is still up for discussion.<\/p>\n
The agreement provides stability for Ontario parents and child-care operators, federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously this has been a challenging piece of work, but it\u2019s been an amazing piece of work,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cThere are still parents that are saving in Ontario about $9,000 per child, even with the rate being an average of $19.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four-year agreement comes with $12 billion from the federal government, and on top of that Ontario will also get its share of an additional $5.4 billion for the national program that Hajdu announced earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The new money addresses Ontario\u2019s fiscal hole, at least in the short term, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Minister Hajdu) understood that there was a massive shortfall in her program and came back with more money, and this allows us to at least get probably to the end of (2027) with the current fees that we\u2019re at,\u201d he said in an interview. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they want to get down lower, then they\u2019re going to have to provide significantly more dollars to do that. But this provides good stability for parents and for the operators. So I\u2019m very happy with what she\u2019s been able to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hajdu said she has been hearing from parents more on the availability child care. Wait lists in some regions of Ontario have continued to grow, in some cases by several hundred per cent since before the national program sparked increased demand.<\/p>\n
The province was supposed to have created 86,000 affordable spaces by this year under the deal with the federal government, but has so far fallen short at just shy of 60,000.<\/p>\n
Calandra said the province continues to work toward that target and expects a good deal of spaces to become available in the next year, as most new schools under construction have child care attached.<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s financial accountability officer has estimated that the demand spurred by lower fees would put the need for new spaces closer to 220,000.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
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