Key points<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s child-care system is struggling to meet parents\u2019 needs despite billions in federal funding.<\/p>\n
The 2021 Early Learning and Child Care Agreement promised $10 a day child care and the creation of 86,000 new spots for children under six, but the current fee cap is $22 a day and the deadline for new spaces has been extended.<\/p>\n
While child care has become more affordable, demand has increased faster than supply. Many families cannot find a space for their children and have to wait months for a spot.<\/p>\n
Ottawa resident Victoria Tsonos knew it would be difficult to secure child care before becoming a parent. That\u2019s why she joined the city\u2019s waitlist a week after learning she was pregnant.<\/p>\n
The federal and Ontario governments introduced the Early Learning and Child Care Agreement<\/a>, or ELCC, in 2021, promising 86,000 new spaces and an average cost of $10 a day for daycare by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n But these goals have not been met, leaving families struggling for support and governments working to recover the program.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery new parent is warned that as soon as you get pregnant, you need to sign up on the city\u2019s daycare waitlist,\u201d Tsonos said. \u201cEven though I didn\u2019t know the sex of my baby until (he) was born, I had to make a profile for him and sign him up.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the uncertainty of waitlists is stressful, especially when her child could age out of programs for which she signed up.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to go back (to work) when my child is 12, 13 months. \u2026 If he becomes a toddler by the time an infant spot becomes available, he will no longer be accepted,\u201d Tsonos explained.<\/p>\n Ontario says<\/a> an infant is younger than 18 months, and a toddler is between 18 and 30 months old.<\/p>\n The City of Ottawa waitlist<\/a> advises parents that more families are looking for child care than there are available spaces, encouraging them to find a \u201cbackup plan.\u201d But for some, a backup plan isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n Emily Knoppert said she went to social media looking for advice on navigating the waitlist. She found a common answer was in-home daycares.<\/p>\n While child-care centres and home agencies can be subsidized through the ELCC system, Knoppert said she wants to send her daughter to a public centre \u2013 a choice that could mean waiting longer.<\/p>\n Her family moved to Ottawa from Seattle in May and was aware of the waitlist before arriving. To prepare, Knoppert said she accessed the city\u2019s portal in March.<\/p>\n \u201cI just didn\u2019t totally know what to expect,\u201d she said. \u201cMy daughter had already attended half-day preschool in the U.S., so I was looking for something similar.\u201d<\/p>\n Knoppert\u2019s wait wasn\u2019t as long as she expected. Her daughter was offered a spot at a half-day preschool in April, though the wait could have been longer for a full day. She said she has not heard from the full-day facilities she applied to seven months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people are looking for a full-day program to better align with their full-time jobs, and the half-day programs are less popular and a little easier to get into,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Knoppert, a half-day program works. Her partner\u2019s job allows them to stay home with their daughter during afternoons, but she said it\u2019s not that simple for every parent.<\/p>\n \u201cI just didn\u2019t think that full-day was gonna work, where either I had to get insanely lucky \u2026 or I would have had to do an in-home daycare, which I was a little uneasy about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her daughter\u2019s preschool is subsidized by the ELCC system, which caps fees at $22 a day for children 0-5 \u2013 $12 more than the price promised in 2021.<\/p>\n To address these shortcomings, the federal government announced<\/a> nearly $12 billion for the Ontario ELCC program on Sept. 29, adding to the $13.8 billion already provided. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu said in a press conference that funds will go toward maintaining the current $19-a-day average fee until next June 30.<\/p>\n The new budget will also be used to meet the goal of 86,000 new child-care spaces, for which the deadline has been moved from Dec. 31, 2026, to March 31, 2027.<\/p>\n