The demand for child care services in Guelph and Wellington County has continued to rise as the federal government looks to extend its $10-a-day child care agreement with the province.
Last week the federal government announced it had reached agreements with 11 out of 13 provinces and territories. Ontario was among them, though as of last week it hadn't actually signed the deal yet, claiming there is a $10 billion funding gap.
It’s something advocates are pushing for, though the number of spaces and staffing continues to be a challenge.
The program first launched in 2022.
Dubbed the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement, the province committed to reducing childcare fees to an average of $10-a-day by March 2026 with funding from the feds, when the current agreement is set to expire.
It’s something numerous childcare centres and advocacy groups have lobbied for, with more than 100 of them signing a letter to Doug Ford to sign onto an additional five years to “protect Ontario families.”
The University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre was among the signatories.
The federal government’s offer to Ontario would include $2.9 billion in funding for 2026 to 2027, and a three per cent escalator starting after that to grow the system.
“The CWELCC system has been critical to greatly increasing access to affordable child care for many families,” said Mandy Koroniak, the director of the children’s early years division of Wellington County.
“The positive impact on individual families and the broader economy will continue for many years to come.”
However, she noted there is still “much work to be done.”
“Even if the province’s goal of 37 per cent access to licensed child care is reached by the end of 2026, 63 per cent will still be in need of access to high quality, affordable licensed child care.”
Staffing remains a challenge locally too, as well as across the province.
As the number of child care spaces grows, so does the need for more qualified staff, she said.
“It continues to be important to recognize the value of the profession of early childhood education for quality early learning environments, as well as economic stability and growth,” said Koroniak.
Last year, Koroniak said applications for county-operated child care centres had increased by 119 per cent since the program launched.
At the time, there was no centralized, community-wide wait list.
It launched in April, providing the county with more “robust, community-wide data.”
She said the need has continued to grow, with an average of 380 new applications and 150 placements each month.
As of Dec. 31, 2024, there were a total of 2,569 full-day, full-year spaces for birth up to age four in the region, with 1,985 of them in Guelph.
Last year, that number sat at 2,406.
In 2022, the province had set a growth target of 1,721 child care spaces for Guelph and Wellington County by 2026. That target has not changed, though some progress has been made.
“At this time, 913 spaces have been created and an additional 449 spaces have been approved but are not yet opened,” Koroniak said. “This provides a total of 1,362 spaces towards the target of 1,721.”
But by the end of 2024, there were 4,559 children on the wait list, she said.
Still, it’s made an impact on those who can access it.
Local mom Lisa van Huyse was paying an unsustainable $65 a day for child care in 2018 – higher than her mortgage payments.
She’s now paying $20 for her middle child, and hopes her youngest will come in at $10.
“It’s such a great program,” she said. “My husband and I have really decent incomes, and it helps us immensely. I can only imagine, for people who are struggling, it’s got to make all the difference.”
A single mom, Alexandria Green said the program has saved her from paying $1,100 a month for child care.
“I wouldn’t be able to afford it if I didn’t have the kickback of this program,” she said.
Taylor Kelly was paying around $40 a day until her son got into the program, which cut her weekly payments in half.
“It’s an amazing idea,” she said. “The biggest issue right now is, there are just not enough centres. The wait lists are clearly a sign of that.”
Amy Manlapas, who is currently waiting for a spot in the fall, agreed.
“You can’t promise us cheap daycare if there are no spots available,” she said. “Maybe they should subsidize new daycare centres and pay ECE’s a living wage.”
Several other parents lamented the long wait list, suggesting more spots are needed to ensure the program can help everyone who needs it.
“The workforce must increase in tandem with increasing spaces. Continuing to improve compensation, benefits, and recognition of the profession are crucial to this work,” Koroniak said.
“Continued growth of the licensed child care system and its workforce are needed to benefit all families.”
– with files from The Trillium