Ontario Becomes The Final Province To Sign National Child Care Agreement

Ontarians across the country will soon benefit from affordable childcare

Every child deserves the best possible start in life, and all parents should have the ability to build both a family and a career. The pandemic revealed the economic issue with Early learning and childcare. Due to the closure of schools and daycares at the start of the pandemic, parents had to remain at home resulting in an all-time low in women in the workforce. The Federal Budget 2021 will fund up to $30 billion over the next five years to build an affordable, high-quality childcare system across Canada, with $9.2 billion every year after.

The Government of Canada laid out their plan on reducing fees for parents with children in childcare in Budget 2021 as well as providing affordable, high-quality early learning and childcare no matter where they live. Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario will be joining the $10 a day national early learning and childcare agreement.

“We have now signed agreements with provinces and territories – across this whole country – to deliver $10-a-day early learning and child care to Canadian parents and families.

Today is the culmination of all of that hard work, and I am so glad that Ontario is now part of Canada’s national early learning and child care system!”.”-Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland. 

This agreement will collaborate with Ontario’s First Nation and Métis Nation communities to ensure that Indigenous children have access to affordable, high-quality, and culturally appropriate early learning and childcare. It also supports an early learning and childcare system that is inclusive of children with disabilities and children needing enhanced or individual support.

Ontario was the last province to sign on to the national child care plan, which was indicative of the provinces with Conservative governments. With Ontario heading to the polls in June, it is in the Ford government’s best interest to put this deal in place.