Excerpt
The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) is welcoming a new report from Ontario’s Auditor-General, which calls on the Ford government to fix gaps in the early learning and child care system, including improving equitable access and workforce development. The new report from Ontario’s Auditor General highlights the growing challenges facing Ontario’s $10aDay child care program – and signals the urgency of implementing a comprehensive strategy, like that outlined in the coalition’s recently released Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario.
The Auditor’s report comes as Ontario and the federal government are currently negotiating a 5-year renewal of the Canada-Ontario child care agreement, which is set to expire in March 2026.
“The Auditor-General’s report shows that the $10aDay plan is transforming Ontario’s child care system for the better. It also provides serious analysis of the problems in Ontario’s implementation of $10aDay. The Ford government says that they accept the Auditor’s recommendations, but without a new agreement, we could lose the precious progress that has been made. The clock is ticking,” said Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.
Among the Auditor’s findings is the revelation that Ontario is now short 10,000 Registered Early Childhood Educators, and is not effectively monitoring the impact of the Ministry of Education’s current workforce strategy on recruitment and retention.
...