Excerpts from the press release:
The McGuinty government is strengthening Ontario's child care system with $142.5 million in funding to sustain 7,000 new licensed spaces and create a first-of-its-kind in Canada regulatory College of Early Childhood Educators to maintain professional standards of practice among child care practitioners, Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers announced today.
This year's additional $142.5 million investment will be used to enhance, strengthen and sustain the government's Best Start program including:
- $105.7 million new funding will sustain 7,374 licensed childcare spaces, including 300 new licensed and culturally-appropriate child care spaces for Aboriginal children in targeted off-reserve communities, as well as assist Ontario municipalities with the pressures they face in supporting quality child care in Ontario
- An additional $24.8 million will provide a wage increase of approximately three per cent for approximately 33,500 childcare practitioners across Ontario
- $12 million to provide improved access to training and create the first regulatory College for Early Childhood Educators in Canada.