Childcare services: no reimbursement before the fall, according to experts

Families are really discouraged and upsetaccording to Amy O’Neil, director of the TreeTop Children’s Centera non-profit day care center in Toronto.

Municipalities are working to develop programs that will allow daycares to lower their fees. In addition, the retroactive reimbursements promised by the province could be paid in the fall, according to an expert.

However, some accuse Premier Doug Ford of having delayed the signing of the agreement for political reasons, which is causing the delay in payments and tariff reductions.

Others, like Jennifer Kotler, a mother of two from Toronto, say they are frustrated.

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Ms. Kotler has two children who are 1 and 2 years old. She says her family spends $3,300 a month on child care.

She explains that the management of the daycare center in Toronto where her children attend hopes to enroll in the government program, but that is not possible at the moment. She says she’s frustrated that the province didn’t sign the deal sooner so she could start saving money.

It was really frustrating to know that [les familles] could have been helped much sooner. I suppose it was for political reasons that this did not happen.

Ontario was the last province to join the federal $10-a-day child care program, the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, on March 28.

The provincial government has announced that it will reduce child care fees by 25% retroactive to April and will issue reimbursements starting in May. However experts say sending refunds as early as May has never been realistic.

Ms. Kotler struggles to understand how parents in Saskatchewan, for example, started offering reduced rates and refunds last summer.

For the whole year before, we could have saved money and had more affordable child care said Ms. Kotler.

Increased investment

Ms. Kotler isn’t the only one frustrated. Opposition parties at Queen’s Park and some child care advocates have also accused Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government of delaying the signing for political reasons.

In January, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the deal had still not been signed because Ontario was working to secure a deal that the province considered fiscally viable and fair for families, but that the federal government was not offering enough money, among other things.

We are at the table and have been for months with the federal government, urging them for longer term investment, increased investment and more flexibility to support all families in the way they raise their children.Mr. Lecce said at the time.

Families in uncertaintyaccording to an expert

It was unrealistic to expect municipalities and child care centers to have a system in place within days of Ontario signing the deal, said Carolyn Ferns, public policy coordinator for the Ontario Coalition. for Better Child Care on CBC Radio.

Municipalities must have their child care programs approved by municipal councils – which can take weeks, depending [des villes]. And child care operators need time to review the program once they’ve been given the green light to apply.Ms. Ferns explained.

Ms O’Neil says parents will eventually get the discounts and rebates. The long-term problem is the lack of details on how Ontario will expand access to child care by 86,000 spaces over the next five years.

The plan does not address issues like workforce issues, nor does it put in place other supports for child care staff and operators. So there are parts of this plan that are not ideal.she said.

Waiting for municipalities

In order for parents to receive their cheque, the money must be transferred from the federal government to the province, which must then pass the funds to the municipal governments that oversee the child care centers, which then distribute the funds to the centers that choose to participate.

Since signing the agreement, the province has announced it will work with municipalities to register more than 5,000 licensed child care centers and home child care agencies that serve children five and under.

In an email, the Ministry of Education indicates that it has given municipalities full technical briefings in the days following the signing of the federal-provincial agreement and that it provided at least three months of funding and support so that municipalities could start registering child care centers as early as April 19.

However, municipalities say they are still reviewing provincial guidelines on how cities should register daycares and structure their programs. City of Toronto officials say they did not receive those guidelines until the end of April.

The City must develop processes to implement this new program, communicate with more than 1,000 child care operators and home child care agencies, and process applications from participating operators said Shanley McNamee, general manager of children’s services for the city of Toronto.

According to Ms Ferns, parents shouldn’t expect to receive their refund until at least September, or possibly even December.

Child care advocates were saying almost daily that the Ontario government should sign this plan and it should do it quickly. That’s why.