Parents for Child Care Update
Did you get a letter from the Minister of Education this week saying child care fees could go up next year? The notice is causing confusion and worry among parents.
Here is some information and context to help you make sense of the Minister’s letter:
- On Tuesday, Ontario Minister of Education Paul Calandra sent a letter to all child care centres across Ontario asking them to forward it to families. The letter says that parent fees could go up from $22/day next year if more federal funding is not secured.
- The Minister’s letter is misleading and feels intentionally designed to create panic among parents and daycare providers. The truth is that the province and federal government reached an agreement-in-principle to extend $10aDay child care for 5 more years back in March. Premier Ford’s government needs to finalize and sign the agreement as soon as possible.
- The $10aDay program does need to be adequately funded by both levels of government, so that it can be improved and expanded. But it is disingenuous for the province to be taking this step in the middle of an election, when negotiations with the federal government cannot genuinely be underway.
I was on CityNews talking about parents’ reaction to the Minister’s letter. You can watch and share the clip on Instagram or Facebook. You can also read more about workers’, families’ and operators’ reactions to the letter in The Trillium.
Getting this letter reminded me how important it is that we keep working together to make sure that $10aDay child care is expanded until all families have access.
I hope you will join me at Parents for Child Care’s upcoming organizing meeting on Wednesday, May 14 at 8pm. You can also help spread the word by sharing this leaflet in your neighbourhood, at an EarlyON or at your kid’s daycare.
Finally, a reminder that the federal election is on Monday, April 28. I hope you’ll join me in voting for affordable child care! You can use this email tool to contact your local candidates and let them know how important this issue is to voters in their riding.
All the best,
Ella, Parents for Child Care
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Parents for Child Care is supported by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
childcareontario.org/parents