Ford and Trudeau Announce $10 a Day Child Care in Ontario

Monday, 28 March 2022 at 11:41

Families with children under 5 will start having fees reduced by 25% starting April 1. Then by December of this year, fees will be reduced by 50%.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford announced 10 dollar a day, daycare for Ontario today.

Costs will not immediately be reduced. Families with children under 5 will start having fees reduced by 25% starting April 1. Then by December of this year, fees will be reduced by 50%.

The $10 dollar a day care will be in place by September 2025.

Prime Minister Trudeau says this will save Ontario families around $6,000 a year.

"Accessible high quality child care is key to building a stronger future, a more resilient economy and a growing middle class. I think of all the families and parents I have met across the country, who told me how badly they needed more accessible, more affordable child care."

Premier Ford says he is happy they were able to make a deal.

"From day one, I said our government wouldn't sign a deal that didn't work for Ontario parents and I'm so proud of the work we've done with our federal partners to land an agreement that will lower costs for families across the province. Given how complex Ontario’s child care system is, we wanted to get this right. Today, we're delivering a deal that will keep money in the pockets of hard-working parents."

Ontario was the last Province to sign on to this plan.

Highlights of the deal include:

- A federal investment of $13.2 billion over six years with the province having secured more certainty around out-year funding. The deal includes an additional year of funding of at least $2.9 billion.
- The flexibility to allocate federal funding in a way that will allow the province to deliver an average of $10 a day child care, including by spending the initial $10.2 billion over four years instead of five.
- Enhanced protection against funding shortfalls through a mandated financial review process in year three – the first of its kind in any provincial child care deal – to reconcile the actual costs of the new national child care plan with funding.
- Reduction of child care fees through four steps of reduction to an average of $10 a day per child five years old and younger by September 2025.
-Parent rebates, retroactive to April 1, will begin in May.
- Protection of all for-profit and non-profit child care spaces, helping to support predominantly female entrepreneurs across the province who provide high-quality child care services.
- Creation of approximately 86,000 new, high-quality child care spaces for children five years old and younger.
- Hiring new early childhood educators and support improved compensation for all Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) working in licensed child care.
- Maintain Ontario’s child care tax credit program that supports 300,000 families with expenses in licensed and unlicensed child care.
- Work with municipalities to enrol 5,000 licensed child care centres and home child care agencies into the program between now and September 1.