Ontario Reaches Child-Care Deal

In another shrewd just-before-the-election move, Premier Doug Ford reached an agreement with the federal government on $10 a day child-care. The deal immediately reduces fees by up to 25% with another 25% reductions scheduled for December and further unspecified reductions in September 2024 and September 2025 in order to achieve the $10 a day target by 2025. The deal is worth $13.2 billion over six years which sets it apart from the other provinces’’ deals which are five years long. This extra year is because Premier Ford signed the agreement with only days before the end of the fiscal year meaning the first year of funding is deferred into the second year of the deal.

As a result, Ontario parents with children in licensed daycare spaces will have to wait three months longer at a minimum for fee relief. The retroactive fee reduction will go back to April 1st with rebates to parents expected to begin being given out in May, a month before the provincial election. As part of the deal the federal government will also work to create 86,000 new child-care spaces in Ontario by 2026, 15,000 of which have already been created since 2019. Ontario’s deal also includes a review stipulation included in the third year of the deal which will allow the province to ask for more funding should they enter a shortfall. The deal is estimated to save parents in Ontario about $6000 per child once the 50% reduction is fully in place in December. Excellent work, Premier Ford! If only it had come three months earlier?