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News & Stories: Policy Monitor

November 23, 2021

Excerpt: "The newly approved Capital Priorities Program projects will create 19,700 new student spaces, and 1,525 new licensed child care spaces in schools. These new spaces will be supported by an investment of $565 million, which will see 26 new schools and 20 permanent additions and renovations built. In addition, the Ontario government will collaborate with several school boards in this round of Capital Priorities funding to expand solutions for accelerated school construction through a pilot project using modular construction methods. This will deliver efficiencies in construction and reduce build times so that students can take advantage of new and updated schools sooner."
March 28, 2022

Excerpt: "Ontario and Canada have signed a $13.2 billion agreement that will lower fees for families and deliver an average of $10 a day child care by September 2025."
April 28, 2022

Excerpt: "The benefits of this funding will begin immediately, reducing fees in participating licensed child care for children five years old and younger by up to 25 per cent beginning in April 2022, through retroactive rebates to parents between May and December. In December 2022, parents will see another reduction. In total, by the end of 2022, fees for families will be reduced by 50 per cent, on average. Ontario will achieve an average of $10‐a‐day child care by September 2025. To ensure a sustainable future that protects Ontario taxpayers and puts parents first, the Canada–Ontario agreement also ensures that the cost of implementing the agreement will continue to be monitored by Canada and Ontario with an automatic financial review process in 2024–25."
April 30, 2022

Excerpt: "Child care staff employed by Licensees with maximum wage increases specified under the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019 (PSPSFGA) may not be eligible for an increase in compensation to the wage floor or to the $1 per hour annual wage increase. Licensees are required to meet any applicable obligations under the PSPSFGA."
May 31, 2022

Excerpt: "Ontario values the important role of child care and early years professionals. Since 2015, Ontario has supported recruitment and retention of RECEs in child care through the Ontario Wage Enhancement Grant. In 2021, Ontario invested $203 million to help attract and retain RECEs within Ontario's child care system and support access to stable, high quality child care programs."
July 25, 2022

Excerpt: "After two years of pandemic disruptions, Ontario today launched its Plan to Catch Up for the 2022-23 school year. The plan, which is supported by the government’s historic investments in education, starts with students back in classrooms, on time, with the full school experience including extracurriculars like clubs, band and field trips. “Our government is looking ahead as we remain squarely focused on ensuring students receive the best stable learning experience possible, and that starts with them being in class, on time, with all of the experiences students deserve,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “We have a plan for students to catch up, including the largest tutoring program in Ontario’s history, a modernized skills-focused curriculum to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, and enhanced mental health supports.”"
August 31, 2022

Excerpt: "This addendum to the Ontario Child Care and EarlyON Child and Family Centres Service Management and Funding Guideline (2022) (“CWELCC Guidelines”) will provide CMSMs/DSSABs with information on recent changes arising from the new investments through the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement."
August 9, 2022

Excerpt: "Parents of young children will soon see the cost of daycare drop dramatically with the province having negotiated a fair child-care deal with the federal government."
November 14, 2022

Excerpt: "To expand child care, Ontario is partnering with the federal government to create 86,000 new, high‐quality, affordable child care spaces by 2026. Of this total, Ontario has already created more than 15,000 new spaces, including over 1,500 new licensed child care spaces in schools."
November 14, 2022

Description: "This report analyzes the Ministry of Education’s spending plan as set out in the 2022 Ontario Budget and the 2022-23 Expenditure Estimates. The report discusses the FAO’s spending projection by program area and identifies key assumptions, issues and risks. The final chapter of the report compares planned spending for the 2022-23 fiscal year against actual spending in 2021-22."
December 5, 2022

Excerpt: "Total investments from the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada in the child care and early years program will total more than $3.9B in 2023. Funding will support the implementation of fee reductions, workforce supports, and other measures. This investment represents an increase of $1.28B, or 44%, over the 2022 calendar year. This investment also includes an additional $24M from the renewed Canada-Ontario Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to support child care and early years program delivery. A one-time transitional grant of $85.5M is also included to help offset and assist with the impact of administrative funding changes and provide stability to the sector as the ministry continues its work on the development of the new child care funding formula."