Pressure is on to get a $10-a-Day child care deal signed

Early Childhood Educators and Ontario families with young children are attending Queen’s Park today to mark Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day by launching a Countdown Clock to put pressure on both the federal and provincial governments to sign a new deal for a $10-a-Day child care system.

“We need a new child care agreement signed to secure the future of $10-a-Day child care for Ontario families, for our economy, and to give Early Childhood Educators a chance at decent work and pay,” said Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator at the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

“Today is the 25th anniversary of Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day, but rather than celebrating, ECEs and families are urgently calling on Doug Ford and Mark Carney to get their Ministers to the negotiating table,” said Ferns.

Amber Straker, the Executive Director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario knows what is at stake for Ontario’s ECEs. “Under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care plan, ECEs won the first wage floor in the sector’s history. The lowest paid ECEs have seen wage increases of over $5-an-hour. Of course, Ontario still has much to do to reach some of the gains that we’ve seen in other provinces, where ECEs now have wage grids, benefits, and pension plans. But the $10-a-Day plan is making a difference. And without it, we could lose these gains,” said Straker.

Several families with young children joined educators and advocates at Queen’s Park to talk about the transformative impact that reduced child care fees have had on their families, and why the system must be strengthened and expanded.

“As an immigrant who is new to Canada and a single mom, my family has benefitted so much from the affordable child care program. We’re paying $22-a-day now and Ontario has committed to get fees to $10-a-Day by March 2026. Child care is one of the only costs that has gone down recently. Housing, food and everything else is all so expensive. Affordable child care helps my family make ends meet. Without it, I’m not sure what we would do. Maybe we would have to go back to the shelter. We are counting on our politicians to stick to their promise,” said Toronto parent Janet Amito.

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care has launched a virtual Countdown Clock where the public can send messages to their politicians urging them to get a deal done. “The clock is ticking for $10-a-Day child care. Time is running out. Let’s protect and expand this life changing program, for Ontario’s families, educators, communities, and economy,” said Ferns.

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