Ontario's Regulatory Registry

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Regulation - LGIC

Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014

Ontario and Canada have signed an agreement that will lower child care fees for families in Ontario and deliver an average of 10/day child care by September 2025. To support the early phases of implementation of this agreement, regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 were amended. These amendments establish a cost containment framework to support sustainability of the program over the long-term, ensure that funding is directed to parent fee reductions and support improved affordability, transparency and choice for parents. They also extend existing enforcement tools to ensure the Ministry of Education has appropriate authority to enforce contraventions or misuse of government funds in relation to this cost control framework.

Specifically, the amended regulations establish:
- an immediate cap on all parent fees for eligible children that would remain in effect until a licensee or applicant notifies their service system manager that they are not enrolling in the CWELCC system OR the licensee completes the enrolment process;
- a requirement that licensees enrolled in the CWELCC system reduce the cost of a licensed space by 25%, to a floor of $12;
- a requirement that service system managers reduce by 25% the parent contribution that is paid by a family receiving child care subsidy for eligible children;
- requirements related to retroactive payments, refunds and non-base fees;
- requirements for notification to parents regarding whether or not the licensee intends to enrol in the CWELCC system;
- requirements to support parental choice when a licensee does not enrol in the CWELCC system; and,
- related enforcement mechanisms.

The regulations also set out that service system managers must administer the program in alignment with provincial funding guidelines and require a licensee to comply with the terms of any agreement between it and the service system manager relating to the CWELCC system.

Typically, when proposing new regulations under the CCEYA, the Ministry of Education is required to post a description of the proposed regulation on Ontario's Regulatory Registry and allow for public comment on the proposal for at least 45 days. However, subsection 84(6) of the CCEYA gives the Minister of Education authority to determine that no public consultation will be undertaken in certain circumstances. Given the urgency of the situation, the Minister determined that no public or stakeholder consultations would be conducted in this instance.

The amendments support affordability and choice for parents and ensure appropriate oversight and cost containment of provincial/federal funding under the new CWELCC system. They will also serve to support economic recovery by supporting the provision of high-quality child care and early years programs, that provide rich social, emotional, and early learning experiences for children while allowing families to work.

All amendments apply to for-profit (large and small-sized businesses) and not-for-profit organizations equally, in both licensed centre and home child care settings. The regulatory amendments are expected to have significant benefits for the sector and families and any compliance costs associated with limitations on parent fee will be fully offset by increased access to government funding under the CWELCC system.

ONTARIO REGULATION 469/22
ONTARIO REGULATION 542/22
ONTARIO REGULATION 543/22
ONTARIO REGULATION 565/22

22-EDU015

Ministry of Education
c/o Early Years and Child Care Division
315 Front Street West, 11th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 0B8

March 28, 2022

Approved