Ontario child-care fees could rise without new federal funding: provincial minister

Allison Jones · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 4:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is informing that if the adjacent national authorities does not summation backing for the $10-a-day child-care program, the fees parents wage volition rise.

Ontario is 1 of 3 provinces that did not motion an hold to the programme with the national authorities earlier the predetermination was called, and the existent woody is acceptable to expire connected March 31, 2026.

While Ontario has signed an agreement-in-principle saying that it wants to proceed delivering the reduced parental fees, officials person said that the existent backing operation would permission the state abbreviated $10 cardinal implicit 5 years.

It appears to beryllium a captious sticking point, arsenic Calandra has sent a missive to parents of children successful daycare saying that without further funding, erstwhile the existent woody expires the fees they wage could rise.

"We are hopeful that the national authorities volition measurement up with unchangeable and capable backing for Ontario families earlier the national programme expires," Calandra wrote to families.

"I volition proceed to support you informed truthful that you tin program accordingly."

The fees successful Ontario are presently capped astatine $22 a day, arsenic an interim measurement toward the $10-a-day mark.

Letter isn't directed astatine immoderate national party, curate says

Calandra said helium has not seen a committedness to summation backing successful the platforms of either the national Liberals oregon Conservatives, and that the missive isn't directed astatine conscionable 1 party.

"I haven't spoken to the parties with respect to their commitments, extracurricular of having work parts of their platform, but the ministry, successful beforehand of a national election, was evidently moving precise intimately with the national authorities to entree much resources for kid attraction truthful that the committedness could unrecorded up to what radical are expecting," helium said astatine an unrelated property league connected Wednesday.

"It's clip we halt yanking people's concatenation and archer them, if it's not going to beryllium $10 a day, past what does the backing supply parents and what choices bash they request to make?"

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised successful his level to "protect and strengthen" the nationalist child-care program, but it does not notation further funding. As well, the Liberals committedness to make 100,000 caller spaces, enactment with provinces and territories to guarantee predictable wage increases for aboriginal puerility educators, and necessitate kid attraction to beryllium expanded successful nationalist infrastructure.

The Conservative level contains a passing notation of the program, vowing to "honour existing deals with provinces and territories connected kid attraction and pharmacare." Leader Pierre Poilievre has not indicated what his plans are for provinces with soon-expiring deals, but has said helium wants to bring much state and flexibility to child-care offerings.