Government Strengthens Ontario's Child Care System
$142.5 Million Funding Boost And New Regulatory College Means Better Care For Ontario's Children
The McGuinty government is strengthening Ontario’s child care system with $142.5 million in funding to sustain 7,000 new licensed spaces and create a first-of-its-kind in Canada regulatory College of Early Childhood Educators to maintain professional standards of practice among child care practitioners, Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers announced today.
New funding will provide the City of Toronto with $32.2 million to increase wages, address local pressures and sustain 925 new spaces.
“Parents and families want child care that is affordable, accessible and accountable and where they can feel secure that their children are safe and well-looked after,” said Tony Ruprecht, MPP for Davenport, who joined Chambers at Rawlinson Child Care Centre at Rawlinson Community School to make the announcement. “This additional funding will help more Toronto families find convenient, quality child care for their children.”
Other government investments supporting the early learning and healthy development of Ontario’s young children and their families include:In January 2007, the province streamlined the eligibility process for child care fee subsidies based on family net income so more families are now eligible.
More support for the health and well-being of 1.3 million children through the new Ontario Child Benefit, which will provide low-income families with a one-time down payment of up to $250 per child this July, growing to a maximum of $1,100 annually per child by 2011.
“I am extremely pleased with this announcement,” said Toronto Mayor David Miller. “The government has recognized the value of child care to families in Toronto and the need to improve wages for those who do this tremendously important work. This announcement shows what can be accomplished when three levels of government work together.”“This is an important milestone for the early childhood education field as the establishment of a regulatory body formally recognizes trained early childhood educators as professionals,” said Eduarda Sousa, Executive Director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. “The announcement of new and additional funding for training and wage enhancement grants is an important step towards addressing the retention and recruitment issue that currently plagues our profession.”
Increasing the number of childcare inspectors by 12 to 77 and providing parents and families with improved access to information on licensed child care centres to assist them in making well informed child care decisions.