The Province to Subsidize Day Care Costs During a Potential Teachers Strike

Wednesday, 15 January 2020 12:33

The Province announced today that they will help subsidize day care if strike actions closes schools or school based child care centres.

ONTARIO - The Province announced today that they will help subsidize day care if strike actions closes schools or school based child care centres.

The Government is prepared to offer parents up to $60 per day. Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the Government is still focused on reaching a deal with the teachers unions.

"Our aim has always been to reach a negotiated settlement that keeps kids in class, which we have done successfully with multiple labour partners to date. We recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real, and unions expect hard-working families to bear the costs of their cyclical labour action. While unions impose hardship on families and students, our government is taking proactive steps to ensure students remain cared for — and families supported — in the event that unions decide to further escalate job action in their fight for enhanced compensation and other demands. The contrast could not be clearer."

If teachers go ahead with a full withdrawal of services, it would force parents to make alternative arrangements for their kids.

A full withdrawal of services could require parents to make alternative arrangements. A strike could also impact the operation of full-day child care centres located in schools, forcing them to close as a direct result of escalating union job action.

The Ministry of Education has launched its Support for Parents initiative to help cover some of those day care costs.

Financial support will be provided to parents for each day of school that a child misses on account of a labour disruption, or each day of child care that is not available if offered from a closed school.

Eligible parents of children up to age 12 (Grade 7), or up to age 21 for children and youth with special needs, in a publicly funded school, qualify for:

- $60 per day for children aged 0-6 who are not yet enrolled in school but attend a school-based child care centre that is required to close on account of the strike.
- $40 per day for students in Junior Kindergarten (JK) and Senior Kindergarten (SK).
- $25 per day for students in Grades 1 up to and including Grade 7.
- $40 total per day for students in JK up to and including Grade 12 with a special need(s).

Funding will also be retroactive for qualifying parents to cover costs already incurred due to labour disruptions that have occurred during the current 2019-20 labour negotiations.