Some GTA daycares to close Tuesday as operators protest changes to $10-a-day child care program

Dozens of private daycares in the GTA and across Ontario are expected to close on Tuesday to speak out against changes to the implementation of the national $10-a-day child-care program.

As many as 50 centres in the GTA have said that they will be closing for the day on Tuesday to take part in a rally at Queen’s Park, according to Jacky Sheppard, a spokesperson for Private Operators Group, which represents some private operators in the province.

CP24.com has viewed a letter from one GTA daycare centre informing parents of their plan to close for the day on Tuesday.

Independent daycare operators across Ontario have been speaking out against what they say have been the negative impacts of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program, the national $10-a-day program that has reduced parent fees by more than 50 per cent since it was implemented in 2022.

According to Sheppard, centres say recent changes to the provincial funding model are putting some businesses at risk of closure.

Anya Kerr, who owns and operates two daycares in the Muskoka area, plans to attend tomorrow's protest due to changes being made to this funding model.

"We offer nature-based learning and elevated art and music programs that you don't find in everyday care, and we're concerned that a lot of those expenses that we need to create a vibrant community around our centres will not be covered," Kerr told CP24.

"They won't be eligible under the new cost-based funding formula. And for us, and many centres like us, especially in rural areas where there are much higher expenses, it's going to be an administrative nightmare to put these new changes into place."

The province announced in August that it plans to move away from the revenue replacement model and switch to a cost-based system starting on Jan. 1. At the time of the announcement, then-education minister Todd Smith said the changes would give operators more “flexibility” with how to allocate spending. The province also announced that it would be capping parent fees at $22 a day across Ontario starting in January.

Sheppard previously told CP24 that private centres want to the see the province press pause on the implementation of the new funding formula.

“We’re now being controlled completely on what we spend and how we spend it,” she said in an interview with CP24.com earlier this month.

“We’re having to make the kind of changes that no industry would take. It’s a complete takeover. It takes away all of our authority, it takes away all of this decision-making, and it really puts us into working for the government, which is not fair.”

Some of those decisions include something as arbitrary as a refrigerator breaking at a centre, Debbie Cunha, owner of the Little Kids Daycare in Oakville, told CP24, as they'll have to go to the municipality to ask permission to replace it. She adds it will also impact staffing decisions, as they are only allowed to staff per the ratio requirements outlined by the ministry.

"So if a child needs a little bit of an extra attention where we would normally schedule someone in, we can no longer do that, but for centres who are not part of CWELCC, they're being hit the worst. They're going to lose childcare subsidy," Cunha said.

"Waiting lists are really long, where will those low income families go to get care? Children with special needs are going to lose enhanced funding unless they're in a CWELCC centre. Where will those children go?"

'They are in a fight for survival' 

Letters were sent out to parents at many private daycares across the GTA earlier this month, warning that they may have to pull out of CWELCC if adjustments are not made. This would mean parents that had previously seen a major reduction in fees could go back to paying upwards of $2,000 a month per child.

Andrea Hannen, the executive director of the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario (ADCO), said while her organization has “strongly discouraged” its members from disrupting services for families, they acknowledge that there are many challenges operators and families are facing as a result of the program.

“For some, the provincial funding formula and the recent changes are the reason they’re protesting,” Hannen told CP24 on Monday.

“Some centres are really in desperate straits because of that announcement.”

She said one of the biggest changes that will impact small businesses in the sector is the decision to pull provincial funding from daycare centres that are not part of CWELCC.

The province previously informed licensed operators in a memo that starting in 2025, centres not participating in CWELCC will lose out on regular funding that they previously received, including general operating, fee subsidy or wage enhancement grants.

Hannen said she estimates that about 500 centres in the province are not a part of CWELCC and that decision puts them at “imminent risk of closure.”

“They count on those funds, those provincial funds, to help pay their staff,” she said. “They are in a fight for survival.”

Hannen noted that some of the centres that are not apart of CWELCC have applied to be part of the program but were rejected due to the federal cap on private, for-profit centres. Not-for-profit daycare centres make up 70 per cent of daycare spaces in the province while for-profit centres are capped at 30 per cent.

“Here you are, you applied to be part of the $10-a-day program and now suddenly it feels like you’re being punished because you were rejected,” Hannen said.

Hannen said after a couple of years of implementation of the program, it is unsurprising that major issues have arisen.

“Potentially, you could see quite a lot of centre closures. Not just closures for the day, but ultimately closures permanently,” she said. “We were cautioning about that in 2021.”

Hannen acknowledged that the recent letters and closures may be “anxiety-provoking” for some parents, but she said operators are doing what they think is best.

“Just hang in there and cut centres so some slack. Give them the benefit of the doubt,” she said. “I would just say that no centre wants to ever send out a letter like that.”

In a statement provided to CP24, a spokesperson for Education Minister Jill Dunlop said that the new funding model “was created with extensive sector consultations” and is intended to provide “stability and predictability for all operators.”

“We will continue to advocate to the federal government to provide more funding and flexibility to support parents and operators,” the spokesperson said.