After discovering she was pregnant, Angela Zhu and her husband anticipated the challenge of securing a daycare spot in Toronto. They opted to sign up on 40 waitlists, hoping it would be adequate. However, a year after welcoming their son, they only received one offer for a daycare that was inconveniently 30 minutes away and starting nearly a month after Zhu was due back at work.
Despite the long commute, they considered themselves fortunate to have secured a spot in the national $10-a-day program. It took them over three years and 1.5 years of commuting before finally obtaining a spot in their neighborhood this month.
Although approximately half of the provinces offer childcare at $10 a day, Ontario has yet to reach that target, capping fees at $22 a day. This is still a significant reduction from the previous rates, which could be as high as $70 before Ontario joined the program four years ago.
Some parents and a prominent childcare advocate are suggesting that instead of focusing on reducing fees to $10, Ontario should prioritize expanding childcare services. The surge in demand since the introduction of more affordable fees in 2022 has led to critical access issues in certain areas after four years. Ontario was expected to create 86,000 affordable spaces by this year but has fallen short, with the need estimated to be closer to 220,000 according to the province’s financial accountability officer.
In one Toronto daycare, the waitlist has had to be closed multiple times due to overwhelming demand. Before the pandemic, the waitlist at Blossoming Minds typically ranged from 300 to 400 children, but since the $10-a-day program was introduced, it has exceeded 700 names.
Education Minister Paul Calandra’s spokesperson stated that Ontario is dedicated to expanding access to affordable childcare. As demand has risen due to lower fees, efforts are being made to bring more spaces online in collaboration with local service system managers and operators, as well as with the federal government to ensure the sustainability of the program.
In the Region of Waterloo, the number of children waiting for a childcare space has increased by 200% since 2021. Similarly, in Thunder Bay, the waitlist for infant spaces has more than doubled since 2021, with 1,235 children waiting, a third of whom need care urgently.
Ottawa has experienced a 300% rise in families seeking childcare since 2019, with approximately 8,500 children currently on the central waitlist. The city is meeting about three-quarters of the demand, but it still needs to add around 7,400 new spaces to fully address the need. Ontario allocated about 2,900 spaces to Ottawa between 2023 and this year under the provincial expansion plan.
Hana Park, a mother in Ottawa, felt the childcare situation was so dire that her family moved to Gatineau, Quebec, due to the lack of available program spaces near their Ottawa residence. She cited the $10-a-day program as a key factor in deciding to have a child but expressed feeling emotionally drained and defeated by the challenges of finding suitable daycare options.