York Region gets funding boost to support local child care system
New funding could support more than 1,300 additional children in York Region

YorkRegion.com
July 4, 2017
Teresa Latchford

York Region is getting a piece of the pie when it comes to provincial child-care funding.

The region has just announced it will be receiving an additional $12.6 million this year to maintain and enhance the early learning and child-care system for local families and children. The funding is being doled out to help municipalities improve early years children’s services, aimed at those zero to four years of age, over the next years.

“Among our growing population in York Region are an increasing number of young families with child care and early intervention needs,” York Region chair and CEO Wayne Emmerson said. “Increased funding for children’s services will support the physical facilities, plus the staff and families all working together to provide high quality of care for our youngest citizens.”

In York Region, the additional funds will be used to help low-income families access licensed child care, cut wait times for new families applying for fee assistance, assist with the cost of repairs and maintenance at licensed child care centres, provide wage enhancements and provide more services for children with special needs, including funding and supports to licensed child care operators serving children with special needs.

“This new funding in 2017 has the potential to support 1,370 additional children in York Region,” Newmarket regional councillor and community and health services chair John Taylor said. “The support these families receive will allow them to seek better employment, housing and food leading to healthier lives for themselves and their children.”

Since 2013, the region has received $31 million in new provincial funding earmarked for the child care system.

Those funds have gone to increase support for children with special needs, improved the quality of early learning program and supported wage enhancements for educators. Recently, the region has increased the number of children with special needs supported in licensed child care, provided funding to 441 licensed child care sites to purchase toys and equipment and distributed more than $17 million in wage enhancements to 482 licensed child care centres in 2016.

For more information on children’s services in York Region, visit york.ca.