The Toronto Star
The Markham Civic centre operates a non-profit daycare that has lasted 25 years and is due to close in three months. The city is not going to provide them the space as they need it.
The 57-space daycare, which serves infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers, was built with more than $500,000 in provincial and municipal funds as an integral part of the civic centre, which opened in 1990.
The daycare is always full and has a long waiting list of parents desperate to enroll their kids, Ianoco said.
But the centre’s 25-year lease expires Sept. 30, and it has until the end of October to vacate the premises.
The city has refused to extend the lease until September 2016 to allow more time for families to find other alternative arrangements. The child care centre has faced many issues around several commercial landlords in Toronto who have tried to evict the daycare.
“This is a city. They are supposed to be public sector and help out the public,” Ianoco said.
Elise Ho-Foong, whose 4-year-old twins have been at the centre since they were 2, was scheduled to enroll her 15-month-old baby, Aubrey, at the daycare in September.
“We chose TLC because my husband works at the civic centre, and it is on my way to work,” said the engineering company consultant. “Now I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
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