Ontario Bringing More Child Care to Families in Simcoe and York Regions
Region to Benefit from 211 New Licensed Child Care Spaces

news.ontario.ca
Oct. 20, 2016
By the Ministry of Education

Ontario is creating 211 new licensed child care spaces in Simcoe and York regions, increasing the availability of safe, high-quality, child care for local families, and promoting early learning and development.

Today in Bradford, Associate Minister of Education Indira Naidoo-Harris was at Chris Hadfield Public School to announce that Ontario is investing in helping parents find licensed child care in their community. The school is receiving 49 new spaces for infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers. 

The overall 211 new child care spaces for Simcoe and York families come as a result of a significant local investment by the provincial government.

Starting in 2017, Ontario will help to create an additional 100,000 new, licensed child care spaces for infants, toddlers and preschoolers over five years. This commitment - made in the recent Speech from the Throne - will double the current capacity for 0 to 4-year-olds in licensed child care.

Providing parents with quality, affordable child care is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

Quick Facts

• The province is providing $7.2 million to increase child care spaces in Simcoe and York regions.
• Five new schools will be receiving licensed child care spaces as a result of this investment: 49 spaces at Chris Hadfield Public School in Bradford; 49 spaces at Saint Bernard’s Catholic School in Orillia; 39 spaces at Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Huntsville; 49 spaces at Pope Francis Catholic School in Vaughan; and 25 spaces at St. René Goupil-St. Luke Catholic Elementary School in Thornhill.
• Ontario has banned child care providers from charging a fee to be placed on a waiting list. This change took effect September 1, 2016.

Additional Resources

• Modernizing Child Care in Ontario
• Child and Family Programs in Ontario
• Achieving Excellence - A Renewed Vision for Education in Ontario

Quotes

“In the last year, our government has helped create more than 4,000 licensed child care spaces in schools to give Ontario families better access to high-quality, affordable care. Over the next five years, we are going to create an additional 100,000 licensed child care spaces. We are working hard to build a child care and early years system that gives our children the best start in life and Ontario families the support they need.”
Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate Minister of Education (Early Years and Child Care)