Media Release: Stalled fee reductions in Ontario child care agreement extension raise concern about the future of $10aDay program across Canada
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Child Care Now is deeply concerned that the federal and Ontario governments are delaying, and may even abandon, their joint commitment to reduce Ontario parent fees to $10-a-day by March 2026.
After much delay, the two governments arrived at a one-year extension of their first Canada–Ontario Early Learning and Child Care Agreement set to expire on March 31, 2026. The first agreement included a provision to bring down the daily parent fee for Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care programs to $10. However, the one-year extension agreement will keep child care fees at an average of $19 per day, capped at a maximum of $22 per day, until December 31, 2026. It is uncertain if fees will go up or down after that date.
“We worry that walking back the $10aDay promise is a signal that other government commitments, including the commitment to expand the availability of licensed programs, will be diluted and delayed not just in Ontario but across Canada,” says Morna Ballantyne, Child Care Now’s Executive Director.
Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care echoed this concern saying that the extension agreement “cannot mark the start of backtracking on $10aDay. It must be the first step toward a stronger agreement, in which both governments step up to fully fund the high-quality, affordable child care system that Ontario families deserve.”
Days before the announcement of the Ontario extension agreement, Child Care Now had warned that the November 4th federal budget, which failed to meaningfully increase child care funding levels, would stall the expansion of the federal Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program and limit support for the workforce. A recent Auditor-General report found that the federal government is not on track to meet the goal of 250,000 new child care spaces across Canada.
Child Care Now says it will accelerate its efforts federally and in every province and territory to secure larger government investments in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program.
“We will not stand by and allow governments to stop building a program so important to the wellbeing of children and families, and so critical to Canada’s economic growth and security,” said Ballantyne.