Representatives from the Ministry of Education were in Sudbury on Jan. 30 to discuss the creation of 100,000 new licensed child care spaces for children under the age of four.
The spaces will be rolled out starting this year and over the next five years.
This number will double the capacity for children ages 0-4, increasing access from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of children. Estimates indicate that between 45 to 50 per cent of children in the age range of 0-4 are in need of licensed care.
"There are currently 390,000 spaces for children up to four years of age," said a Ministry of Education official. "This will bring the total up to 490,000 spaces which accounts for 40 per cent of children in that age group."
Monday evening's town hall meeting was the 18th of 19 meetings across the province, where ministry officials are looking to garner feedback from educators and parents alike.
"We have four key areas that we're engaging people on: affordability, responsiveness, accessibility and quality, and we're getting a lot of feedback in each of those areas as far as what's working well in the system and what could be done differently."
While the commitment from the province is directed at early years children such as infants and toddlers, the outcomes reach beyond that, as there will be an increased demand for registered Early Childhood Educators to fill the spaces, along with additional educators from within the childcare community.
"There will be a number of employment opportunities that become available (through this initiative)," said a Ministry of Education official.
Associate Minister of Education, Indira Naidoo-Harris says, "Investing in the early years puts our kids on a path to success. Our government's historic commitment to create 100,000 new licensed child care spaces over the next five years will give Ontario families the support they need. We must develop a new framework for child care and early years programs to better serve Ontario families. We want to hear from Sudbury families and care providers on how we can give our kids the best possible start in life."
If you were unable to attend Monday's meeting, you can still share your feedback at Ontario.ca.
