A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) shows that for the second year running Ontario has the highest child care fees in the country – pointing to an affordability crisis for parents.
The highest fees in the country were in Toronto and seven of the most expensive cities were here in Ontario - with Markham, Ottawa, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga and London among the most expensive.
“Ontario has an affordability crisis for parents. It’s a huge burden for families that are just starting out.” said Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy Coordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. “This report makes it plain that fees are so high that we are at a breaking point and we need government leadership.”
The report entitled They Go Up So Fast: Child Care Fees in Canada 2015, highlighted the fast rise of fees for child care. In several areas of the country fees have been outpacing the cost of inflation.
All this points to the need for provincial and federal leadership on the child care file. With a willing federal partner in Ottawa, now is the time for Ontario to be moving forward to building a real system of child care for Ontario – one that address both affordability for parents and decent wages for child care staff.
Report author, CCPA’s David Macdonald: “There is a huge variation in the cost of child care between Canadian cities, which verges on the absurd when you compare the $987 per month Ottawa parents pay for a preschool space that costs just $174 per month across the river in Gatineau. While child care is a provincial responsibility, there is clearly room for federal leadership and funding to close the large differences in fees and availability across Canada."
Read the full study at: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/new-study-reveals-most-and-least-expensive-canadian-cities-child-care#sthash.IEE4anQn.dpuf
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Contact the OCBCC:
Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy Coordinator
Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
416-538-0628 x 4