Investment will help make child care more accessible for families across the region
NEPEAN — The Ontario government is expanding licensed child care spaces in the City of Ottawa by investing more than $178 million in 2023 to support the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. This support delivers a significant reduction of child care fees for Ottawa families by 50 per cent on average and is helping to save families an annual average of $6,000 to $10,000 per child.
An additional 2,900 licensed child care spaces will be created in Ottawa by 2026. These new spaces for children aged zero to five will represent a 9.4 per cent increase of child care spaces available in the community – increasing access to more families across the region.
“We are delivering savings directly to families while increasing access to child care spaces for families across Ottawa,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “Our government believes that child care should not be the cost of a mortgage payment, which is why we took action to finally make child care affordable. In addition to cutting child care fees by 50 per cent, we are proud to deliver additional spaces so that more Ottawa families benefit and ultimately save their hard earned money.”
These new spaces in Ottawa are on top of the 29,601 spaces enrolled in the CWELCC system last year. “We know that creating new child care spaces is critical to ensuring our Canada-wide early learning and child care plan is a success,” said Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “This is an important step for families in Ottawa who rely on child care close to home and work. By working with the Government of Ontario, high-quality, affordable and inclusive child care is becoming a reality in the province.”
Ontario remains committed to the success of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system and will continue to work with municipalities and the sector to ensure affordable child care is available in communities where it is needed most.