The Ontario government is making child care more affordable and accessible for families across Parry Sound-Muskoka by creating 438 new, high-quality licensed child care spaces by December 2026.
“These new child care spaces will go a very long way in making life more affordable for families across Parry Sound-Muskoka,” said Graydon Smith, MPP Parry Sound-Muskoka. “The government is investing billions of new dollars into child care as we work towards achieving a $10/day average across the province.”
To date, 92% of Ontario’s licensed child care providers have opted into our plan to deliver affordable child care. Families in Ontario are already seeing fee reductions of up to 25% retroactive to April 1, 2022, and, by the end of this year, will see further fee reductions of up to 50% relative to 2020 levels.
In 2023, the ministry will be investing more than $3.9 billion, including funding from the federal government, in early years and child care. This includes about $1.9 billion in routine allocations to support the ongoing delivery of early years and child care services and more than $2 billion to support the next phase of Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) implementation.
Ontario’s vision for the CWELCC system is that more families in Ontario have access to high quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care no matter where they live.
“Making child care more readily available and at far more affordable prices is a major priority for our government,” added MPP Smith. “This investment into Parry Sound-Muskoka is a clear demonstration of how determined we are to make life easier and more affordable for parents.”
Under the CWELCC system, Ontario will support the creation of approximately 86,000 new licensed child care spaces (relative to 2019) by December 2026. Since 2019, about 33,000 new spaces have become operational, with another 53,000 to be created.
To support the creation of new spaces in targeted regions, Ontario will also be providing capital start-up grants that can be used to offset the initial costs required to expand or create spaces in these regions, such as equipment and leasehold improvements.
