Ontario’s largest child-care operator and others are warning that child-care centres across Ontario are at risk of closure if the province doesn’t soon update how it compensates them under the national $10-a-day program.
The plea from the YMCA comes as the province seeks to significantly boost the amount of child-care spaces.
While the non profit is a big supporter of the $10-a-day program, it says the way it is currently being funded is not sustainable.
The fees parents pay for child care have been cut in half, with the provincial government replacing that revenue to centres, but the YMCA says it’s leaving many operators with deficits.
Operators say the government’s funding model is based on rates that don’t reflect the true current cost of providing child care, and the 2.1 per cent increase factored in for 2024 to account for inflation is not nearly enough.
A spokesperson for Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the province is pushing for more federal money.
A spokesperson for the federal minister says provinces’ agreements are designed to provide them flexibility to respond to inflation, and the funding increases each year.
