In an effort to erase the city’s $433 million structural deficit, Toronto’s children’s services department is recommending city council cancel a 12-year agreement with area school boards that covers rent for school-based child-care centres and family resource centres. The agreement costs the city $5.8 million annually

"To destabilize the school-based child care now, before the province is able to implement its full vision is so short-sighted. We don’t want the system to die on the operating table. We’re going to need everybody to pull together, the fees, the province and the city to make this happen,”  said Jane Mercer of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

Since Toronto would still have to pay rent for subsidized spaces and family resource centres, the net savings would be about $3.2 million by 2011, according to budget documents. Also It would impact more than half of the 652 child care centres the city funds through subsidy and wage agreements.

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