News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Ontario is investing more than $23 million to build 35 new licensed child care rooms across the province, delivering on its commitment to build safe, high-quality, licensed child care spaces for Ontario families."

Excerpt: "Every child deserves to have the best start in life. Over the past three years, the government has helped to create 56,000 new licensed child care spaces. Within the next five years, it will help to create another 100,000 spaces, so that working families can find quality, affordable care. Your government will also make it easier for parents to find and use the services their children need, whether they are before-and-after-school programs, drop-in centres or more licensed child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Within the next five years, Ontario will help to create another 100,000 new, licensed child care spaces so that more families in Toronto can find quality, affordable care."

Excerpt: "Premier Kathleen Wynne visited the onsite child care centre at Glynn A. Green Public School in Fonthill, where the government supported a retrofit of existing rooms to help create more than 30 new licensed child care spaces for toddlers and pre-schoolers."

Excerpt: "Ontario is creating 88 new licensed child care spaces in the Waterloo Region, increasing the availability of safe, high-quality, child care for local families. The five new child care rooms for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers will be located in the new St. Boniface Catholic School, which is scheduled to open in 2019. The spaces will give more families the opportunity to transition from child care into full-day kindergarten at the same location."

Excerpt: "Province Investing in 3,400 New Child Care Spaces and Launching Public Consultations."

Excerpt: "As part of Ontario's commitment to supporting child care professionals, the program will receive ongoing, annual funding. This year, the province will provide: An ongoing wage enhancement, up to $2 per hour plus benefits, for eligible child care workers and home visitors in the licensed child care sector; An ongoing enhancement, up to $20 per day, for eligible home child care providers; A raise in the maximum hourly wage to be eligible for the wage enhancement - an increase of 1.5 per cent to $26.68 per hour. For home child care providers, the daily fees maximum will be $266.80 per day."

Excerpt: "Ontario is investing in infrastructure and economic development in First Nation communities in Northern Ontario, to identify new business opportunities, boost economic growth and provide safe child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Ontario is also investing in smaller class sizes for students in full-day kindergarten (FDK) and Grades 4-8. FDK classes, which are supported by a teacher and an early childhood educator, will now be capped at 30 students next school year, falling to 29 students in 2018-19, and average no more than 26 students per class within each school board. Support will also be provided to ensure that for students in grades 4-8, all school boards have average class sizes of 24.5 or fewer students."

Excerpt: "The government is committed to addressing these challenges by increasing access to licensed child care and by making it more affordable for families: 24,000 more children up to four years old will have access to child care in 2017-18. This is part of the province's plan to help 100,000 kids access child care over five years, as announced in the 2016 Ontario Speech from the Throne; Parents will receive more financial support to increase affordability, including subsidies for approximately 60 per cent of new child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Finding quality and affordable child care can be a challenge for families in some communities due to long waitlists for subsidies and spaces. The government is helping 100,000 more children access affordable, quality licensed child care to give them the best start in life and support families across Ontario. As a first step, the Province invested an additional $65.5 million to help create 3,400 licensed child care spaces in fall 2016."

Excerpt: "Ontario is supporting mothers and babies with new and expanded health care services, including more midwives, enhanced newborn screening and increased supports for vulnerable babies."