Item - 2024.EC17.5

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the Federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Provincial Minister of Education to:

a. increase capital funding to meet Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care targets in the not-for-profit and public sector for Toronto;

b. allocate and release funding for Toronto from the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund; and

c. create a child care capital growth plan for Ontario.

2. City Council request the General Manager, Children’s Services collaborate with child care stakeholders and partners to identify strategies that will enhance equitable access to child care for families in receipt of fee subsidy that further address the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.

3. City Council request the General Manager, Children’s Services, in consultation with the Chair, Economic and Community Development Committee, to convene roundtable meeting of Indigenous partners, City and School Board staff; organizations representing families, educators, and supervisors; unions; experts, and other community stakeholders and partners for the purpose of information sharing and community advocacy in support of a high-quality, affordable, and sustainable child care system in Toronto.

4. City Council request the General Manager, Children’s Services to make submissions to the Ministry of Education to provide Toronto’s position, as informed by previous City Council direction, on the renewed Canada-Ontario Action Plan and child care funding in the 2025 provincial budget. 

The General Manager, Children's Services and the Acting Program Manager, Program and Policy Development, Children’s Services gave a presentation to the Economic and Community Development Committee.

This report provides an update on the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system in Toronto, including an initial analysis of the Province’s new cost-based funding approach to funding. The report also discusses recently announced program changes and their potential impacts on the child care sector in Toronto. Finally, the report provides an update on the development of the 2025-2029 Child Care and Early Years Service Plan for Toronto.