Review of Toronto Early Learning and Child Care Services

Excerpts from Executive summary

The City of Toronto requested this study for an analysis of Toronto’s municipal child care centres including a financial analysis of the costs to deliver the service as well as to identify the financial and non-financial benefits that these centres provide children and families, the wider community, and the broader child care sector. This study was commissioned by Toronto’s City Manager in response to Toronto City Council’s consideration of the findings of an Auditor General’s review of Children's Services in 2018.

To undertake this study the following actions were taken:

• A comparative analysis of the City of Toronto’s Early Learning and Child Care Services (TELCCS) centres with comparable non-profit and commercial child care centres was conducted. This included an analysis of financial, staffing, and enrolment data across City-run, non-profit, and commercial child care.
• Qualitative analysis including interviews with TELCCS centre supervisors, individual and group interviews with staff and families in TELCCS centres, observational site visits to eight TELCCS centres, overlaid with findings from a literature review.
• Surveys of TELCCS centre supervisors and supervisors in comparable non-profit programs.
• A jurisdictional examination of delivery models in other Ontario municipalities. The results of these analyses are presented in this report along with contextual background on Canada’s child care system and the regulatory framework and delivery models found across Ontario. The results of this study include a number of key findings, and opportunities identified to further realize benefits from TELCCS. Highlights of those findings and opportunities are included below.