This article was first published by MiltonToday, a Village Media publication.
A motion calling on the province to increase funding for the $10-a-day daycare program has received unanimous support from Halton regional council.
In 2023, Halton received funding to create 190 new child-care spaces under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system, despite needing 1,100. The Region has been advocating for more support, but no additional funding was provided. This year, the need grew to 2,340 spaces, yet no new funds were allocated.
The next planned expansion in 2026 will only add 347 spaces.
The motion, introduced by Milton councillors Colin Best and Sameera Ali, calls for the ministry of education to support new child-care space growth in the region to respond to community needs and prevent financial hardship for families.
“We have some real challenges in the daycare sector,” Best said at Wednesday's meeting. “There is a real issue in terms of the number of daycare spaces being funded under this program and I hope that we push the provincial and federal governments to get some action on this.”
Ali added: “We all face a lot of challenges and pressures when it comes to daycare spots. We all have young families now moving in as we try to make Halton more livable and more accommodating of young families and youth.”
Milton, she said, “has the largest proportion of children under 14 of any of our neighbouring GTA municipalities.”
Access to full-time infant child-care spaces across Halton is limited, with only one space available for every five infants. The access rates — according to Ali — are 13 per cent in Milton, 15 per cent in Burlington, and 21 per cent in Oakville. That's well below the 33 per cent provincial target for the sector, she said.
The access rate was not provided for Halton Hills.
“It is pretty obvious through this data that we are really severely under supported in this field,” she said.
In an email Saturday, a spokesperson for the ministry said that the province has already reduced child care rates by 50 per cent on average and “is on track to deliver on our commitment to creating 86,000 new child care spaces in areas that need it the most, which includes more than 1,386 spaces in Halton by 2026.”
"On top of the 493 spaces we allocated to Halton in 2022 and 2023, we expect nearly 200 new CWELCC spaces to become available in 2024 alone. Our government will continue to fight for families in Halton and advocate for workers in our child care sector so that we can keep cutting fees and creating more spaces,” the statement reads.
In May, the ministry informed the region about a new cost-based funding model, which will use historical data, to be implemented in January 2025. The motion calls for the new model to account for rapidly growing demand and the impact of new school developments in Halton.
Burlington regional councillor Rory Nissan was among those who voiced his support at the meeting.
“When $10-a-day daycare came out, a lot of people were excited, including many economists, who recognized the economic value of parents — especially women getting back into the workforce. And in addition to that, just helping parents get a leg up. We were promised that it would be universal. It's far from it. So I'm glad to see this resolution come forward and we're going to have to keep pressing over the next few years.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to include statement from the ministry of education.
