Ontario needs to spend millions for $10 a day child-care plan to work in Toronto: advocates

Ontario needs to step up with millions of dollars in order for the national $10 a day child-care plan to work in Toronto, say advocates.

A report set to go to city council Wednesday is recommending that Torontoask the province to step in to make the plan work for children, parents and staff.

In a letter sent to city council on June 13,advocates from the early childhood education sector asked Toronto to call on the province for additional funding toward wages and working conditions of early childhood educators, fee subsidies for underserved families and an expansion of not-for-profit child-care spaces.

Carolyn Ferns, policy coordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, is among those who draftedthe letter. She says low wages are behind the worker shortage.

"We're promising families access to more affordable childcare, but they won't get access to that if they cannot get a space and they cannot get a space if programs can't staff," said Ferns.

"Many programs across the city are not at capacity right now. They're limiting their enrolment because they cannot staff."

The calls for more funding come despite an announcement byOntario Education Minister Stephen Leccelast week, who said an increase in wages for early education workers would be coming soon. Lecce did not specify what the wages would be. In 2022, Ontario set a base of $18 for early education workers in 2022, increasing it $1 yearly until it reaches $25.

Last year, the federal government committed to providing Ontario with $10.2 billion over a five-year period to bring the average cost of child care to $10 a day under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care plan.

Higher wages, more capital income

The current wages willnot attract or retain new employees, says John Weatherup, president of Toronto Education Workers unionLocal 4400, which represents over 15,000 workers.

He said the starting wage for early childhood educators is $18 an hour in Toronto.

"Nobody can afford to live in Toronto and work at those wage rates," said Weatherup, adding the lack of benefits and pension plan adds to the concerns.

"Wages is an important part of how we can incentivize and retain the workforce to stay within our childcare centres, non-profit, for-profit," saidLecceat Queen's Park last week.

"In other ways, we can further advertise or market these viable careers for young people and for new Canadians and for others. So, my commitment is to go even further, following the good advice of the sector of the workers."

WATCH | The risks to $10 a day daycare in Ontario:

Why Ontario's worker shortage is putting the $10/day daycare plan at risk

1 year ago

Duration 2:10

CBC Toronto's Mike Crawley reports on what might be the biggest challenge facing the child-care sector

Janet Davis, a longtime city councillor and advocate for universal access to child care, says Toronto needs capital to renovate, retrofit and build new facilities that are not for profit.

In a report to council in May,the city's Children's Services departmentasked the province to allocate an additional 19,682 child-care spacesin the city that will be able to participate in the federal system. The federal government committed to create 86,000 new child care spaces across the province by 2026, with a priority on not-for-profit sectors.

Concern for growth in for-profit sector

But Davis says there is a concern that without more funding, there will begrowth in the for-profit sector, which would contradictthe federal government's stated intention for the child-care plan.

"We know that commercial child care can get mortgages. We also know that there are very large corporate interests that are buying up smaller commercial childcare centres and investing heavily and that is a great concern for many in the sector," says Davis.

"We have seen what's happened with for-profit care in long-term care and those of us who have worked for decades to build, to advocate for a national childcare system do not want to see child care go in the same direction."

In a statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Education said the province's existing fee subsidy model continues to be an option for families who require financial assistance for child care in Toronto for children 12 years of age and under.

The ministry added the government is supporting small business women entrepreneurs who are the majority of for-profit centre owners.

Davis also says the province needs to help with fee subsidies for underserved families in the city.

Ferns says many families who qualify for subsidy are on wait lists.

"Even if they find a space, they won't receive [a] subsidy to cover the fee," said Ferns.

"Ultimately, what would make most sense is for the subsidy system with all its barriers and wait lists to be replaced by a simple sliding fee scale available to all families."

The report to city councilin May from Children's Services states that 72 per cent of families with fee subsidies in Toronto pay less than $10 a day for childcare. Even at $10 a day, many families will still not be able to afford child care, Davis says.