Parents and advocates say they are "quite concerned" after Ontario's education minister issued a letter to families on Tuesday warning of a possible rise in child-care fees next spring while calling on the federal government to commit more funding for the $10-a-day program.
Ontario's current $10-a-day child-care agreement with the federal government ends on March 31, 2026. Through the deal, and the funding that has come with it, child-care fees at centres that are part of the program have been capped at $22-a-day as of January, which was expected to lower the average per-day cost from $23 to $19.
"Ontario has informed the federal government that we would like to see an extension of the program that would allow the province to succeed in achieving $10/day child care beyond March 31, 2026. Ontario has indicated that we remain committed to our share of the funding to assure we can make this happen," Education Minister Paul Calandra wrote in an April 22 letter, which was sent to families less than a week before the federal election on April 28.
"At this point, the federal government has not indicated its willingness to fully fund its portion to deliver on its promise of $10/day child care in Ontario. Without adequate funding, Ontario families could see fees rise above $22/day starting April 1, 2026, and continue to rise thereafter," he said.
"However, we are hopeful that the federal government will step up with stable and adequate funding for Ontario families before the federal program expires."
Ella Bedard, a member of the advocacy group Parents for Child Care, called the possibility of fees rising "really concerning."
"I feel concerned for my family, but also for others," said Bedard, whose four-year-old son attends a child-care centre in Toronto. "Seeing the cost of daycare go down over the last few years at a time when everything else — the cost of living, housing, everything else — has gone up ... has really been amazing, and I think transformative for a lot of families."
Bedard, who is pregnant, said the $10-a-day program has allowed many of her friends to budget for a second child.
"I just thought it was really misleading and fear-mongering and feels intentionally designed to create panic among parents and daycare providers," Bedard said of Calandra's letter, adding that the province has already been offered an extension agreement.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on March 6 that the federal government had reached extension agreements with 11 out of 13 provinces and territories. While 10 of the 11 provinces had actually signed deals, Ontario had yet to do so — saying it wanted more than the $16.77 billion Ottawa was offering.
The agreements would mean $36.8 billion in funding from the federal government to the 11 provinces and territories over five years, starting in 2026-27.
Alana Powell, executive director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, said families and workers in the sector are looking for stability.
"Signing on to the agreement quickly and securing that is very important for the child-care community," she said.
"We're already hearing from families who are stressed with the cost of living, concerned about economic uncertainty, with the threat of ongoing tariffs and new tariffs and to have a letter come out that sort of suggests potential fee increases, without giving a more fulsome picture of everything that's going on, I think is really alarming for families," said Powell.
Donna Spreitzer, executive director for Toronto Community for Better Child Care, said parents and child-care operators were "caught off guard" by the minister's letter.
She called on the province to "step up and do their job."
"The province must financially support this federal initiative to make child care more affordable," she said, adding that she also wants to see the province reinstate the school-based child-care projects that it previously cancelled.
"The minister’s letter threatened families that they will only stay in the game if the feds increase their allocations," said Spreitzer. "My question to the minister is what is Ontario’s plan to support families to ensure everyone has access to affordable, accessible, high-quality child care?"
At a press conference on Wednesday, Calandra said he issued the letter to families because he thinks parents "need to know."
"It's time we stop yanking people's chain and tell them — if it's not going to be $10 a day, then what does the funding provide parents and what choices do they need to make?" he said.
Asked if he was trying to put the federal Conservatives on the spot, given they've only committed to honouring existing deals, Calandra said he's letting people know the current deal ends in a year and that "unless we're able to come to an agreement with whoever takes over office after Monday, that fees will start to increase."
"Do I want the federal government, whoever it is, to match dollars with the promise? Absolutely, I do," he said.
Calandra said his ministry was working with the federal government to try to secure more funding prior to the federal election.
"So far the only thing we've got is a recognition that we were underfunded by $10 billion in the province of Ontario, but no commitment to ... provide additional resources," he said.
"I was just unwilling to wait for the end of an election. I want parents to know what the situation is now, what we're faced with," he said.
The Conservative Party of Canada's platform states that if elected, the party would "honour existing deals with provinces and territories on child care and pharmacare."
The Trillium reached out to the federal Conservatives for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Bedard said this concerns her.
"An agreement in principle is not a signed agreement, so what I get very worried about is that ... if there's a Conservative government, we don't have a protected program going forward for the next five years," she said.
The Liberal Party of Canada included the $10-a-day child-care program in its platform, calling it a "core part of Canada’s social infrastructure."
The party said it would "protect and strengthen" the program to create 100,000 new spaces by 2031.
"This will increase the supply of not-for-profit and public early learning and child care, getting more families off wait lists, and saving families money. It will also create 35,000 jobs for early learning and child care workers," the Liberal platform said, adding that the party would work with provinces and territories so workers have "predictable wage increases and investments in pensions and benefits programs."
A Liberal government, the platform said, would also require the expansion of child care in schools, community centres and other public infrastructure where possible.
Jenna Ghassabeh, a spokesperson for the campaign, said a Liberal government "will extend Ontario’s $10-a-day child care agreement to 2031."
—With files from Jessica Smith Cross
