Ontario has appointed Dr. Gordon Cleveland to lead a new study with the goal of building a child care system that makes child care universally accessible and affordable to all Ontario families.
Quality child care is essential for families. Parents want peace of mind to know they will have access to child care in a location that is convenient, and that it will be affordable for their monthly budget, said a news release from the province. Yet for too many, child care is unavailable, unaffordable, or has a significant wait time.
Cleveland is associate professor of Economics Emeritus in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He will provide policy recommendations, including ways to improve access to child care subsidies. The study is expected to be complete by the end of February 2018.
As part of the 2017 Ontario Budget, the government announced investments in new child care spaces and subsidies in order to realize its target of providing 100,000 more children aged 0-4 with access to affordable, quality and responsive licensed child care in schools, homes, and communities over five years.
Expanding access to child care and making it affordable for families is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.
Ontario is investing over $200 million in 2017-18 to increase accessibility and affordability of licensed child care throughout the province, building on the $65.5 million capital investment announced in the 2016 Fall Economic Statement.
Ontario has helped create 56,000 new licensed child care spaces over the past three years.
