Home daycares in Ontario and across Canada face a serious threat due to funding changes in the Canada-Wide Early Learning & Child Care (CWELCC) System set for January 2025. These changes could drastically reduce the financial support that licensed home daycares depend on, leading to closures, lower quality care, and fewer available daycare spots.
Why Home Daycares Matter
Licensed home daycare providers play a crucial role in the childcare system. They offer a more personalized approach, often in areas where larger centers cannot meet demand. The CWELCC system originally provided financial support to help keep daycare fees low while maintaining high standards of care. However, the upcoming funding cuts may destroy the delicate balance that home daycare providers rely on.
What Is Changing?
Starting in January 2025, CWELCC funding for home daycare providers will be significantly reduced. Currently, this funding helps cover essential expenses like mortgage payments, utilities, cleaning supplies, food, and educational materials. With the funding cuts, many daycare providers’ earnings will drop below minimum wage, making it nearly impossible to cover these costs.
The Impact on Providers
Home daycare providers are facing two difficult choices:
- Leave the CWELCC system: Providers may choose to leave the government program to charge higher fees, allowing them to stay afloat. This, however, would place a heavy financial burden on parents, making childcare less affordable.
- Close down: Many providers may be forced to close entirely. This would lead to fewer available daycare spots, longer waiting lists, and reduced access to affordable childcare—contradicting the very goals of the CWELCC system.
The Consequences for Children and Parents
If home daycare providers stay within the CWELCC system, they will have to drastically cut costs to survive. This will likely result in:
- Lower quality of care: Reduced spending on food, educational materials, and toys will impact the overall daycare environment.
- Fewer staff: Many providers will be forced to let go of assistants, meaning fewer caregivers per child. This will negatively affect the children’s experience and safety.
Parents will face reduced options for quality care and will likely struggle to find spots for their children. This situation creates additional stress for families already balancing work and childcare responsibilities.
A Ripple Effect on Employment
The reduction in funding will also cause job losses in the daycare sector. Many assistants who currently work in home daycares rely on their positions as a primary source of income. As more daycares close or downsize, fewer people will seek employment in this sector due to its growing financial instability.
What’s at Stake?
The 2025 funding changes threaten the entire foundation of affordable, high-quality childcare. The CWELCC system was designed to make daycare more accessible, but these cuts will do the opposite. Without intervention, both parents and providers will suffer. Parents will lose access to affordable daycare, and home daycare providers will be forced to leave the field.
How You Can Help
In response to this crisis, the Association of Canadian Early Childhood Educators (AACE) is leading the fight against these changes. During National Awareness Week, they aim to highlight the severe impact these funding cuts will have on home daycares.
AACE is urging the government to rethink the proposed cuts and find a sustainable solution that ensures home daycare providers are fairly compensated. Their campaign is built around the question: “#AtWhatCost?”—at what cost are we willing to lose access to affordable, quality childcare for reduced government spending?
AACE is encouraging everyone—parents, educators, and the general public—to support the cause by signing a petition that demands the government maintain adequate funding levels for home daycare providers. The petition emphasizes that home daycare services are essential for many families and that providers must be paid fairly for their work.
By signing the petition and spreading awareness, you can help ensure that home daycare providers receive the support they need to continue offering high-quality, affordable care.
Let’s Take Action Together
We call on parents, caregivers, and community members to sign the petition and raise awareness about the impending crisis. Share the message, use the hashtag #AtWhatCost, and let your voice be heard. Together, we can protect the future of home daycares and ensure that affordable, high-quality childcare remains available for all families.
