Excerpt
With the parents and caregivers of over 8,000 children waiting to access child care in Guelph and Wellington County, a different kind of waiting game is also playing out in the sector.
In May, the province pledged to introduce a new cost-based funding formula for service providers, to be implemented in January 2025.
Details of that funding formula have yet to be released, and it is causing quite the stir.
“Ontario has not made a commitment, and given clarity or transparency to what these child care operators or centres will receive in order for them to even contemplate what growth could look like in their centres,” said federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds.
Sudds spent Monday in Guelph, talking with child care service providers and parents.
She said the formula is “undoubtedly the number one issue” being raised by providers, adding it is having a huge impact on the waiting list.
Many she said she spoke with say the formula “can’t come soon enough,” adding it’ll give service providers who want to grow their spaces the certainty to move forward.
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