In Ontario the cost for childcare is high, where many families pay somewhere near $1000 to $1,649 a month for one child. For some, depending on how many children they have, the cost of childcare can cost about two-thirds of their salary. To make matters worse, many child care centres also have long waiting lists. This really effects low-income families because due to the high costs, many families are forced to enroll their child/children in an unlicensed childcare program. Although unlicensed centres may be cost effective and more convenient for parents who work long hours, the quality is also found to be lower most of the time, as well as they are unregulated which makes the level of safety questionable. Find more information about unlicensed childcare here: https://www.childcareontario.org/unlicensed_child_care_incidents

The Ontario governments plan is to increase to the number of licensed child care spaces by opening up 100,000 new regulated spaces over the next five years. But even with these commitments, there is still a large problem at hand; without comprehensive Canada-wide child care reform, parents won’t be able to afford most those new spaces. Find more information here: https://timeforchildcare.ca/child-care-at-a-glance/

During COVID-19, it has become more evident as to how important child care really is. The closures of childcare centres has really impacted women within the workforce due to the fact that most of them had to take time off of work to take care of their children due to the emergency closures.

The Ontario government has announced regulatory amendments which have taken effect on March 8, 2021 will be put into place to make childcare more affordable, improve safety, and to reduce the red tape for child care operators. The Ontario government is also looking to expand access to before and after school programs to give parents more childcare options and to help working parents who have early, late, or irregular working hours. For more information: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/60465/ontario-takes-action-to-support-working-families-and-improve-child-care

We want more than empty promises… we want to see a change! 

To combat this issue of the lack of access to affordable, licensed child care, the Ontario government should provide universal childcare, provide higher subsidies for families, offer more affordable licensed childcare options especially for families ending maternity/paternity leave.