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McGuinty Government
Strengthens Ontario's Child Care System -
July 16, 2007
$142.5 Million Funding Boost And New Regulatory College Means Better
Care For
Ontario's Children
CLINTON — The McGuinty government is strengthening Ontario’s child care
system with $142.5 million in funding to sustain 7,000 new licensed
spaces and create a first-of-its-kind in Canada regulatory College of
Early Childhood Educators to maintain professional standards of practice
among child care practitioners, Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell announced
today.
New funding will provide the riding of Huron-Bruce with $2,346,700 to
increase wages, address local pressures and sustain 50 new spaces,
including 32 in Bruce County and 18 in Huron County. As part of the
approximately $2.4 million in funding, Bruce County will receive
$952,600 and Huron County will receive $1,394,100.
“We recognize the continued demand for quality, affordable child care
and the need to sustain the significant progress achieved to date,” said
Carol Mitchell, MPP Huron-Bruce. “Through Best Start, we have helped to
create 50 new licensed child care spaces in Huron-Bruce. This is helping
more parents balance the demands of work and family, giving their
children the best start in life through early childhood education.”
Since Best Start was launched in 2004, more than 22,000 new licensed
child care spaces have been created province-wide.
This year’s additional $142.5 million investment will be used to
enhance, strengthen and sustain the government’s Best Start program
including:
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$105.7 million new funding will sustain 7,376
licensed childcare spaces, including 300 new licensed and
culturally-appropriate child care spaces for Aboriginal children in
targeted off-reserve communities, as well as assist Ontario
municipalities with the pressures they face in supporting quality
child care in Ontario
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An additional $24.8 million will provide a wage
increase of approximately three per cent for approximately 33,500
childcare practitioners across Ontario
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$12 million to provide improved access to
training and create the first regulatory College for Early Childhood
Educators in Canada.
The government will also be supporting child care
professionals working in licensed child care settings who want to
upgrade their qualifications in order to obtain an early childhood
education diploma, by providing grants to assist with the costs of
training, as well as grants to cover the associated travel and living
costs.
“Our government continues, through Best Start, to invest in measures
that are making the system more accessible, more affordable and more
accountable to families, and we are continuing taking additional steps
to provide more information on child care directly to parents,” said
Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers.
“This is an important milestone for the early childhood education field
as the establishment of a regulatory body formally recognizes trained
early childhood educators as professionals,” said Eduarda Sousa,
Executive Director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators
Ontario. “The announcement of new and additional funding for training
and wage enhancement grants is an important step towards addressing the
retention and recruitment issue that currently plagues our profession.”
“Parents and families want child care that is affordable, accessible and
accountable and where they can feel secure that their children are safe
and well-looked after,” said MPP Mitchell. “This additional funding will
help more families here find convenient, quality child care for their
children.”
Other government investments supporting the early
learning and healthy development of Ontario’s young children and their
families include:
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In January 2007, the province streamlined the
eligibility process for child care fee subsidies based on family net
income so more families are now eligible
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More support for the health and well-being of 1.3
million children through the new Ontario Child Benefit, which will
provide low-income families with a one-time down payment of up to
$250 per child this July, growing to a maximum of $1,100 annually
per child by 2011
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Increasing the number of childcare inspectors by
12 to 77 and providing parents and families with improved access to
information on licensed child care centres to assist them in making
well informed child care decisions.
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Contact:
Carol Mitchell,
MPP Huron-Bruce
519-482-5630 |
