EXCERPTS

YMCAs provide nearly 1/5th of all licensed child care in Ontario. With more than 76,000 licensed spaces at more than 800 locations, we are the largest provider of not-for-profit child care in the province. We are also a leading child care employer – with more than 7,500 child care staff.

The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement is a game-changer for working women, children and families. It will ensure that affordable, accessible and high-quality licensed child care will be a reality for more Ontario families.

Recommendations

• A workforce strategy is needed to bring Ontario’s plan to scale. This includes a purposeful plan to recruit, train and retain educators.
  • The compensation commitments in the agreement are a good first step, but will only assist 25% of the workforce. Additional wage enhancements are needed to raise compensation for all educators. High quality programs will not be possible without fair pay.
  • Targeted training programs are needed to bring new educators into the sector and make it easier for current staff to complete their Registered Early Childhood Educator designations.
• More support is needed for children with special needs: About one in every nine children in Ontario has special needs. A better investment for special needs support in child care will improve the experience of every child.

FACT:

YMCAs are currently recruiting for 560 vacancies in order to staff current programs, with 3,200 new hires required to reach our licensed capacity. An estimated 9,000+ new educators will be needed across the sector in order to deliver on Ontario’s child care commitments.