Will Toronto get more affordable child care spaces despite provincial funding cuts?
THE GREEN LINE
DOCUMENTERS NOTES
WILL TORONTO STEP UP TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE CHILD-CARE SPACES DESPITE BUDGET CUTS?
With 48 school-based child-care projects cancelled by the province, families in Toronto’s most under served areas face growing challenges in accessing affordable child-care options.

Gem Lee Herder says it's been hard to find affordable child care across downtown Toronto for her daughter Jaeyoon (pictured at Alpha Alternative Junior School).
: Provided by Gem Lee Herder.

TAYLOR SIMSOVIC
University of Toronto graduate and community worker living in Little Italy with four rescue pets. Passionate about tackling food insecurity and engaging communities.
Oct. 22, 2024
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The city's School Boards Advisory Committee heard an update on the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement (CWELCC) and how recent provincial budget cuts might hamper its implementation.
The meeting took place Oct. 21 in a calm room. There were two city councillors, five board trustees, three city staff and only one person in the audience.Â
The members of the panel in attendance were:Â
- Jon Burnside, committee member, councillor for Don Valley East
- Parthi Kandavel, committee chair, councillor for Scarborough Southwest
- Rhea Dechaine, committee member, trustee
- Geneviève Oger, committee member, trustee
- Yalini Rajakulasingam, committee vice chair, trustee
- Maria Rizzo, committee member, trustee
- Neethan Shan, committee member, trustee
- Stefany Hanson, manager of policy and planning at Children's Services
- Karen Gray, director of Service System Planning and Policy Development at Children’s ServicesÂ
- Derek Boyce, associate director, chief commercial officer of the Toronto Catholic District School BoardÂ
UPDATE ON THE CWELCC AND CHILD CARE
Stefany Hanson, manager of policy and planning at Children’s Services, gave a city staff presentation about the implementation of the CWELCC in Toronto.
The CWELCCÂ is a Canada-wide federal initiative that aims to reduce the cost of licensed child-care services for children under the age of six within the next five years to an average of $10 per day. According to the City of Toronto website, the CWELCC will:Â
- Create more affordable and better licensed child-care spaces.
- Support early childhood workers through better pay and more professional training.
- Improve access to child care for more people.Â
However, Hanson pointed out that in July, 2024, the Ministry of Education announced the cancellation of 48 school-based child-care projects — which are funds for child-care centres within existing schools — that were previously approved but never constructed. "This cancellation means the loss of 3083 child-care spaces for children aged 0-4 in some of Toronto’s highest need communities," according to the presentation.
- Hanson stated that this has critical implications on the CWELCC, since “the capital funding associated with the cancellation of the school-based spaces will not be transferred to the City of Toronto.”Â
- Hanson also presented a map that shows the locations of approved and cancelled projects.
- She highlighted that most cancelled projects fall within wards that were designated as the highest priority for CWELCC because they had the least child-care programs and services. These areas include Northwest Toronto, Etobicoke, and Scarborough.
- Many of the approved projects fall in the medium and lowest priority wards, such as University-Rosedale, which includes Kensington Market, Alexandra Park, and Chinatown.
- Hanson stated that “priority populations including Black, Indigenous, Francophone communities” are being particularly affected in the under-resourced areas shown
She mentioned that in response to cancelled projects, The City of Toronto asked the Ontario Ministry of Education for:
- reversal of the announcement and provision of required capital funding to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB); or
- reallocation of cancelled funding as pooled funding to the TDSB and TCDSB; or
- reallocation of cancelled funding to the City of Toronto.
The ministry responded by stating the funding originally offered for school-based child-care spaces in TDSB and TCDSB will go instead to community-based spaces such as licensed home child care, not-for-profit, and for-profit organizations.
Overall, Hanson said, the ministry’s decision to withhold capital funding limits Toronto’s ability to meet the province's and the city’s expansion targets.
What do attendees have to say?
Maria Rizzo, committee member and trustee, said that the province stated that it will cover 25 per cent of the funding cost per project to the school boards, which “means none of them get done because unless you have millions and millions of dollars you can’t build any of the child-care centres [...] I mean they don't want school boards to have child-care centres in schools anymore? To be honest I'm totally baffled by it.”Â
Derek Boyce of the TCDSB said 20 child-care centres — which accounts for about 1,000 spaces — across the city closed due to lack of funding.Â
What were the outcomes of these discussions?
The committee received the information offered but no actions were presented (or approved) on this agenda item.
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