News & Stories: Ontario

Excerpt: "That’s why, today in Kanata, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, highlighted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent announcement of $201.87 million over four years, with $135 million through 2025–2026, to help build more inclusive child care spaces across Ontario through the Government of Canada’s $625 million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund. This investment will help Ontario reach the shared goal of building 86,000 new child care spaces by December 2026. The announcement was made at the grand opening of Andrew Fleck’s Forest Explorers Outdoor Learning Centre in Kanata, which will provide 73 new child care spaces (10 infant spaces, 15 toddler spaces and 48 preschool spaces)."

Excerpt: "The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that the Government of Canada is providing Ontario with $201.87 million to create child care spaces and support inclusive child care services across the province, especially in underserved communities. This investment, part of the previously announced $625 million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, will help Ontario reach our goal of creating 86,000 new child care spaces by 2026 – meaning more families in Ontario can access affordable spaces. It will mean more spaces in rural and remote regions, high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities that face barriers to access, including racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, as well as parents, caregivers, and children with disabilities. We are working with all other provincial and territorial partners to reach similar funding agreements."

Excerpt: "Cellphones and mobile device restrictions in schools: Every school will have uniform policy to have cellphones on silent and removed from sight at the beginning of instructional time – the new default unless explicitly directed by the educator; If students do not comply, cellphones are immediately surrendered where there is no explicit allowance from the educator; For students in kindergarten to Grade 6, there will be a cellphone restriction for the entire school day, but they may be used with permission from the educator; A strengthened personal mobile devices policy with clear responsibilities broken down amongst staff and a requirement for best practices to be developed and shared with staff; Social media sites will be banned on all school networks and devices; Requirement that educators and staff model behaviour and not use personal mobile devices during class for non-work related reasons; New ban on sharing and recording videos or photos of individuals without explicit consent; $500,000 for digital literacy supports for students during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years."

Excerpt: "The government is committed to building modern schools by investing $23 billion, including approximately $16 billion in capital grants over 10 years, to build, expand and renew schools and child care spaces across Ontario. Since 2018, the government has supported nearly 300 school or child care-related projects, of which more than 100 are actively under construction. This includes $1.4 billion for the current school year to support the repair and renewal needs of schools."

Excerpt: "Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2023 describes the early years and child care system, key data and measures for child care and indicators under Ontario’s bilateral federal-provincial early learning and child care agreements with the federal government."

Excerpt: "New learning expectations are also being added to the kindergarten curriculum. In math, clear and direct instruction in foundational numeracy skills will be provided to all students in addition to daily opportunities to explore math concepts through regular classroom activities. All students will start to learn about fractions, coding and patterns earlier in their education. These new lessons will build foundational math concepts and skills that are the gateway to the disciplines of science, technology and engineering, as well as construction, skilled trades and architecture. The changes and supports, which will be in place starting in September 2025, are the next step in Ontario’s plan to modernize the curriculum and ensure every student has the skills to succeed in the classroom and prepare them for whatever path they choose."

Excerpt: "After extensive consultation, the province has developed a workforce strategy that responds to the issues and priorities of the sector. Starting in 2024, initiatives in the strategy include: Increasing the starting wage for RECEs employed by child care operators enrolled in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system to $23.86/hour in 2024 from the planned $20/hour; Extending the eligibility ceiling for a $1/hour increase so more RECEs can benefit; Supporting entry into the profession and career development; Cutting red tape for employers and providing more flexibility in staffing their programs; Launching a promotional campaign to bolster awareness and value of the child care profession"

Excerpt: "Making schools in Ontario modern, safe and accessible is key to helping students learn and develop. To support student success, the government is investing $22 billion over the next 10 years, including close to $15 billion in capital grants, to build new schools, add child care spaces and modernize school infrastructure. This includes $1.4 billion for the current school year to support the repair and renewal needs of schools. For the 2023–24 school year, 21 new schools and additions have opened, creating over 7,000 new student spaces, including six French‐language school projects."

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is expanding licensed child care spaces in the City of London by investing $62.3 million in 2023 to support the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. The funding will help create an additional 2,889 licensed child care spaces enrolled in the CWELCC system in Ontario in the City of London by 2026, representing a 28 per cent increase of new spaces for children aged zero to five in the community. These new spaces are on top of the 9,092 spaces enrolled in the CWELCC system in the City of London last year."

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is expanding licensed child care spaces in the District of Cochrane by investing $7.9 million in 2023 to support the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. This support delivers a significant reduction of child care fees for families by 50 per cent on average, saving families an annual average of $6,000 to $10,000 per child. An additional 189 licensed child care spaces enrolled in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system in Ontario will be created in the area by 2026. These new spaces for children aged zero to five will represent an 11.7 per cent increase of child care spaces available in the community – increasing access to more families across the district."

The government announced the final roll out plans for full-day kindergarten for all 4- and 5-year-old children – approximately 250,000 children by September 2014.

Government memo re: amendments to legislation, regulations and guidelines related to Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program, including overview; operational framework for extended day and third party programs; safe schools and FDK; and broader implementation of FDK. Regulations indicate non-profit delivery of afterschool programs unless commercial programs are already in schools or no other alternatives are available.