Ontario is getting more than $201 million from a federal fund to create more child care spaces in the province.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined the province's cut of the previously announced $625 million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund on Monday. Trudeau, who was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jenna Sudds, and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien, used the Stationview YMCA Child Care Centre in St. Thomas as a backdrop for the announcement.
He said the funds will help Ontario to create 86,000 new $10-a-day child care spaces by 2026.
"Affordable child care gives moms and dads the opportunity to build their careers, helps families save money, and gives kids the best start to life," said Trudeau. "With Budget 2024, we're creating more child care spaces, hiring more early childhood educators, giving them more training, and working with provinces like Ontario to make sure families get the care they deserve. Affordable, quality child care – that's what fairness looks like."
Trudeau stressed the money will specifically mean more child care spaces in rural regions, high-cost-low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities with barriers to access, such as Indigenous, official language minority, and disabled communities.
The multi-million dollar Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund was included in the federal budget, tabled on April 16. Other resources for child care providers and families offered in the budget include student loan forgiveness for rural and remote early childhood educators, increased training for early childhood educators, and improved child care access for military families.
"Young families who don't yet have access to affordable child care spaces are paying nearly a second rent or mortgage payment for unregulated child care," said Freeland. "This is unfair to today's generation of parents, including Millennial parents, who need and deserve the relief of $10-a-day spaces. With today's new agreement with Ontario to build more affordable spaces, we are helping more families access affordable child care and save thousands of dollars every year."