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News & Stories: Policy Monitor

March 29, 2016

Excerpt: "The newly expanded children's autism program will make it easier for families to access services for their children by reducing wait times, providing more flexible services based on children's needs, and serving more children and youth. It will also help children receive intensive therapy services during the key early developmental years."
May 5, 2016

Excerpt: "Families in Toronto, Kingsville and Oshawa will also benefit through the construction of a total of 19 new custom-built child care rooms in local schools. This will create 318 total new licensed spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers."
May 6, 2016

Excerpt: "As part of today's $90 million investment to further enable the development of community hubs, the province will provide: $20 million to create space for new child care and child and family support programs through Ontario Early Years Child and Family Centres in schools; $18 million to retrofit existing child care space within a school to open up more spaces for children under four years old."
July 14, 2023

Excerpt: “Provinces and territories shared how they have been working to strengthen the workforce by establishing and expanding wage grids and training initiatives and by advancing recruitment, retention and recognition supports. The strategy will be an added tool for all ministers to consider as they continue to work toward their shared goal of providing more families in Canada with access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care, no matter where they live. Additionally, Ontario has committed to taking the lead on establishing a working group on inter-provincial and territorial mobility and foreign credential recognition for the early childhood education workforce to ensure seamless movement of qualified staff across Canada and from around the world.â€
May 9, 2016

The Child Care and Early Years Act: Phase Two Regulations

Excerpt: "On May 9, 2016, the Ministry of Education filed new and revised regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 with the Ontario registrar. The new rules will take effect at varying effective dates, starting July 1, 2016."
May 17, 2016

Excerpt: "Ontario is proposing a regulation that would ban licensed child care centres and home child care agencies from charging fees to join a waiting list for child care programs."
August 2, 2016

Excerpt: "Ontario has filed a regulation to end fees for child care wait lists to improve the accessibility of child care and make life easier for families. The ban will take effect September 1, 2016, and will prevent licensed child care centres and home child care agencies from charging fees or requiring deposits to join child care wait lists. The regulatory amendments also require licensed child care providers to: Develop a public wait list policy that clearly explains how children on a wait list are offered admission; Ensure wait list status is made available to families, in a manner that protects the confidentiality of their personal information."
August 31, 2016

Excerpt: "This new plan provides a picture of our current services and challenges in Waterloo Region, which is based on input and feedback from parents, service providers and child care operators."
August 24, 2016

Excerpt: "Indira Naidoo-Harris, MPP for Halton, becomes Associate Minister of Education (Early Years and Child Care). She will lead the government's efforts, in partnership with the Minister of Education, to build a high-quality, accessible and affordable early years and child care system that supports choice and flexibility for parents and promotes healthy development for children."
August 31, 2016

Excerpt: "We have two recommendations with respect to childcare. The first is aimed at developing a system to meet the needs of working women who are trying to get, keep, or extend their hours of work, or advance in their jobs and careers. The second addresses immediate pressures and gaps in the current system that have been identified."
September 1, 2016

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."
September 12, 2016

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."