Ministry of Education
Early Years and Child Care Division
315 Front Street West, 11th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 08B
Ministère de l'Éducation
Division de la petite enfance et de la garde d’enfants
315, rue Front Quest, 11e étage
Toronto ON M7A 08B
TO: Child Care and Early Years Partners
FROM: Shannon Fuller, Assistant Deputy Minister, Early Years and Child Care Division
DATE: October 2, 2020
SUBJECT: Report on the Review of the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, Consultation on Proposed Regulatory Amendments, and the Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2020
Thank you for your continued partnership. We appreciate your leadership and dedication to supporting children and families across the province.
Today we are pleased to announce:
The CCEYA came into effect on August 31, 2015. It was designed to strengthen compliance, health, and safety in child care settings across the province. The CCEYA requires the Minister of Education to conduct a review of the legislation within five years of its coming into effect and to prepare a public report on the outcomes of the review.
To that end, on July 7, 2020, the Minister of Education announced the start of the mandated CCEYA review. At the same time, the ministry began engagement with parents and with early years and child care stakeholders through two online surveys, written submissions, and targeted and cross-sectoral meetings with sector partners.
Based on this feedback, the ministry has identified six action areas to improve the early years and child care system, including immediately consulting on regulatory amendments and exploring broader policy initiatives that would:
These actions support the government’s commitment to provide more choice and flexibility for children and families, reduce red tape and regulatory/administrative burden, and improve quality in child care and early years settings.
The Strengthening Early Years and Child Care in Ontario report can be found here.
As an immediate commitment in Strengthening Early Years and Child Care in Ontario, the ministry is proposing regulatory amendments that would address the following aspects of the early years and child care system:
Additionally, the regulatory proposals aim to clarify several existing licensing standards and bring forward technical amendments.
We kindly ask that you share the links to the public report and Regulatory Registry posting with your stakeholders and colleagues who may be impacted by changes to the CCEYA regulations and who may benefit from this consultation.
In addition to providing feedback through the Regulatory Registry, you may also send responses by e-mail to: CCEYA_CONSULTATION@ontario.ca.
The regulatory posting will be available for public comment here until November 20, 2020.
Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2020 contains a snapshot of our child care and early years sector, as well as information to better understand the province’s early years and child care system.
Most of the data presented in this report was collected between March 2019 and March 2020. While the majority of the data is current up to March 31, 2020, the numbers presented reflect the period immediately prior to the emergency closure of child care centres in the province that resulted from the initial outbreak of COVID-19. As of September 28, 2020, 5,149 of 5,565 licensed child care centres have reopened.
As a result of the emergency closure this Spring, the Ministry of Education did not conduct the annual survey of licensed child care centres and home child care agencies in 2020. Consequently, some sections of the report present data from 2019, as that is the most recent data available.
The Early Years and Child Care Annual Report can be found here.
Thank you for your support and cooperation as we work together on reopening child care and building a flexible, high quality system that is accessible, affordable, and inclusive.
Sincerely,
Shannon Fuller
c: Becky Doyle, Director, Financial Accountability and Data Analysis Branch
Jill Dubrick, Director, Early Years and Child Care Programs and Service Integration Branch
Nicole Simone, Director, Strategic Policy and Initiatives Branch
Carol Strachan, Director, Child Care Quality Assurance and Licensing Branch
