The Child Care Human Resources Sector Council released a report entitled Literature Review of Socioeconomic Effects and Net Benefits: Understanding and Addressing Workforce Shortages in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Project. » Continue reading “Literature Review of Socioeconomic Effects and Net Benefits”

PRESS RELEASE: ONTARIO IS CLOSED TO LOW-INCOME WOMEN

The Ontario Budget released today fails to address the underfunding and glaring inequalities in Ontario’s childcare system says a spokesperson for the South Asian Women’s Rights Organization, an organization of low-income immigrant women from Toronto’s east end. » Continue reading “South Asian Women’s Right Organization Responds to Ontario Budget”

Progressive Conservative Durham MPP John O’Toole said it’s good that the government is continuing the child-care subsidies but the all-day kindergarten creates problems by pulling child re n, and revenue, from the child-care system.

Olan-MacLean credits strong lobbying, particularly from the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, for the province’s decision. Now that same advocacy is being put to work on a new issue, she said.

The province is extending full-day education to four-and five-year-olds, a move that will have an impact on child-care operators, she said. Not only will they lose those children to the school system, the province wants schools to take on even more of the child-care workload.

“The new legislation that’s being put in place is that boards of education have to provide before-and after-school care for four-and five-year-olds, and with a vision that later on they’d be doing the six-to 12-yearolds,” Olan-MacLean said.

“Those spots really inject a lot of income into the child-care stream. So without that income, again, parents are facing huge fee increases for the infants and toddlers. So our next step is to advocate to the government that they drop that provision.”

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(Written by NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese) The government’s announcement of $63.5 million for daycare subsidies is a bit of good news for parents, but it still doesn’t address the problems emerging from Bill 242, says NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese.

“We’ve been advocating hard for this $63.5 million to be renewed, so we’re obviously pleased that the government has listened to us,” says Marchese. “This money will relieve many parents and child care providers who’ve been terrified about the potential loss of this funding.”

Marchese is worried, however, that the funding does nothing for the problems that have emerged because of the way in which all-day learning is being implemented in Ontario.

» Continue reading “NDP asks: Where’s the plan for Ontario’s children?”

The budget, delivered Thursday by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, addressed a variety of issues ranging from child care to post-secondary education to the province’s record deficit of $21.3 billion. From wage freezes for MPPs to new legislation addressing hospital patient care and a plan to manage drug costs the budget, Duncan said, “begins to chart a course to a stronger economic future for the people of Ontario.”

The budget also contained new funds — $63.5 million — to continue funding child-care spaces “abandoned by the federal government.” The money means 1,000 child-care workers will keep their positions and approximately 8,500 children will remain in care.

Hastings County deputy director of social services Steve Gatward called the child-care funding “welcome news.”

The county established a wait list for some subsidies in January after a shortfall of $631,624 was realized as a result of reductions in government funding.

While Gatward is not sure if renewed funding will eliminate the wait list, he said it would “go a long way to help toward that.”

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The commitment to pick up over $63 million in outstanding child care costs is a positive and long-overdue move by the Ontario government, but the government needs to provide greater help to laid-off workers, Canadian Auto Workers’ union (CAW) President Ken Lewenza said in reaction to provincial budget.

Lewenza commended the provincial government’s action to fill the major funding hole for daycare created by the Harper Conservatives, who put an end to a proposed national child care program in 2006. Although this new funding allows thousands of subsidized day care spaces to continue operating, the McGuinty government must continue advocating for a national plan, Lewenza said.

The CAW welcomes the budget’s commitment to extend the Second Career skills training program to another 30,000 laid off workers as well as the modest increase in funding on a per trainee basis. “We had hoped that the voices of Ontario’s workers who have lost their jobs and continue to fight for outstanding wage and severance entitlements would have resonated with the provincial government,” Lewenza said.

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TORONTO— Child care spaces in Ontario will be protected despite the end of a federal subsidy because of a $63.5-million investment in the budget, the government said Thursday, March 25.

Even though the Liberals had warned they couldn’t stop-gap every funding hole left when a federal program ends, they came up with the money needed to keep 8,500 child-care spaces.

Critics had warned valuable spots would be lost without new funds. They also worried that the problem would only be aggravated when Ontario moves ahead with its plan to bring in full-day kindergarten for four and five year olds.

Federal funding under the Early Learning and Child Care Agreement ended in 2006-07 with a final bulk payment of $253 million to the province. Ontario elected to spread that funding out over four years, with the money coming to an end this year.

» Continue reading “CTV News: Ontario forks out $63.5 million for child care spaces”

2010 Ontario Budget Press Release

Toronto  – Parents, early childhood educators and child care supporters credit the Liberal government for stepping up and maintaining current budgets for early learning and child care. » Continue reading “Victory for Parents and Children as Province Maintains Early Learning and Child Care Funding”

It can be difficult to relate the big-picture numbers in a provincial budget to consequences for the average family.

But child-care advocates are clear about exactly what will happen if the budget to be brought down on Thursday does not include $63.5 million to replace expiring federal child care funding: the province will lose 7,600 subsidized child-care spaces when we desperately need more of them; thousands of child-care workers will lose their jobs when new jobs are scarce; and thousands of parents, faced with the prospect of paying more for child care than they earn, may have to quit working entirely.

So it is troubling that Premier Dalton McGuinty continues to try to shift the blame for this problem to Ottawa.
Rather than respond to questions in the Legislature Monday about whether the child-care spaces will be saved, McGuinty urged NDP Leader Andrea Horwath to join him “to convince the federal government that they should restore that funding on a permanent basis.” » Continue reading “Toronto Star: The daycare funding gap”

(March 23,2010 Front Page – Laurie Monserbraaten, Soical Justice Reporter)
Thursday’s provincial budget must replace lost federal subsidy, critics warn McGuinty.
The loss of $63.5 million in federal child care cash next month and the fall launch of all-day kindergarten for 4- and 5-year olds is creating the “perfect storm” in Ontario’s child care system, advocates warn.

If Queen’s Park doesn’t pick up the loss in Thursday’s budget, at least 7,600 child care subsidies will disappear, fees will rise and parents may not be able to work, they say.

“We are facing a catastrophic collapse of the child care system in this province, with the loss of those subsidies, centres will have to lay off staff, parent fees will have to rise and many programs will be forced close,” said Andrea Calver of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.“

The federal money is part of $252 million in child-care funds Ontario received from Ottawa in 2006 when the Harper government cancelled a previous $5-billion national child care plan. Instead of spending all the money that year, Ontario spread it over four years to support about 7,600 new child-care subsidies. The last $63.5 million installment runs out April 1.

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