Report To: Program Planning Committee
From: Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Human Services and
Amy Ingram, Integrated Human Services Manager
Date: April 18, 2024
Re: Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2023 2023 Licensed Child Care Data Profiles
Purpose
To update the Board on the Ontario's Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2023 and the 2023 Licensed Child Care Data Profiles, encompassing both Provincial and local data.
Background
The Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care 2023 Annual Report and 2023 Licensed Child Care Data Profiles offer comprehensive insights at the provincial, service system manager, and First Nations community levels. The profiles are compiled using data from the Child Care Licensing System as of March 31, 2023. They serve as valuable resources for service system planning. In the past, we have provided this information to the board verbally, this year we have prepared a fulsome report of the data.
Overview
The information provided in the data profiles demonstrates the growth and changes in the licensed child care system in the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB. There are a total of 15 licensed child care centres, all of which are not-for-profit. The number of licensed child care centres has increased from 11 in 2013-14 to 15 in 2022-23, this is a 36% increase. The provincial increase is 14%.
The distribution of spaces in the region shows the highest number of spaces in the school-age group (337 spaces), followed by preschool (170 spaces), kindergarten (124 spaces), toddler (85 spaces), and infant (46 spaces). There are also 120 spaces allocated for the family age group.
The total number of licensed child care spaces grew from 508 spaces in 2013-14 to 882 in 2022-23, an increase of 74%. The total provincial increase is 59%.
At the provincial level, approximately 7.5% of spaces provide French-language programs, while locally, 29% of licensed spaces are French-language.
There has been a substantial increase in the number of approved homes from 2 in 2013¬14 to 10 in 2022-23, representing a 400% increase. There are presently 7 open homes in the region.
There has been a considerable increase in licensed child care spaces and approved homes, demonstrating the efforts to increase access to child care services in the Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services region are working.
From 2013-14 to 2022-23, licensed child care serious occurrences in the Manitoulin Sudbury District show "missing or unsupervised child(ren)" as the most common type, with fluctuations. For example, this category may encompass a scenario where a child is unattended to briefly during transition periods, such as moving from outdoor to indoor setting. Such incidents typically do not pose an immediate safety risk; however, it highlights the importance of vigilant supervision and attendance monitoring.
Unplanned disruption of service notably increased, especially in 2019-20 and 2020-21, due to Covid-19. Overall, a decrease in total occurrences from 2019-20 to 2022-23 suggests improved safety measures. Covid-19 significantly affected the nature and frequency of occurrences, particularly unplanned service disruptions.
Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC)
In 2022, Ontario achieved a milestone by entering the CWELCC Agreement with Canada, aiming to move towards a $10 average daily fee for children under six. The agreement focuses on reducing fees, expanding access, improving quality, promoting inclusion, and enhancing data collection and reporting.
Since April 2022, there has been a 52.75% decrease in rates. All centres in Ontario report parent fees by age group. In the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB, fees are notably lower compared to the median range of $39.46 per day for infants and $25.10 per day for preschool children as of January 2023. Our infant fees stand at $17.55 per day, while preschool care fees are $12.50 per day.
In May 2023, final space creation targets were released to service system managers under the Directed Growth Plan supporting Ontario’s commitment to create 86, 000 new child care spaces by December 31, 2026. The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB space allocation is 183 spaces for the period of 2022 – 2026 comprised of both school based and community bases spaces. At the end of 2023, 69 new spaces have been created in the district surpassing our space creation targets for the year. No additional spaces have been requested; however future spaces have been reallocated. Since 2019, there has been an increase of more than 41,900 licensed spaces for children aged 0 to 5 in Ontario.
In June 2023, 92% of licensed child care spaces catering to children aged 0 to 5 were registered within the CWELCC System. The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB achieved a 100% opt-in rate, with all Service Providers actively enrolled. Moreover, all spaces designated for children aged 0 to 5 are recognized as CWELCC spaces.
The data reported at the provincial level for staffing wages is grouped as follows: Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs), ministry director-approved staff, or neither. Among full-time RECE program staff, 22.3% earned $15.50 to $19.99 per hour, and 48.8% earned $20.00 to $25.00 per hour. For non-RECE, not director-approved program staff, 67.2% earned $15.50 to $19.99 per hour, and 28.8% earned $20.00 to $25.00 per hour. Service system managers lack access to local MEDU-reported data, staff are looking to collect data at the local level to support planning.
As previously communicated to the Board, the Ministry of Education sent a memo to licensees in November 2023, regarding Ontario’s Child Care Workforce Strategy. The strategy aims to support the recruitment and retention of qualified professionals, help achieve system growth, and ensure increased access to high quality licensed child care in the province. The workforce strategy provided eligible staff with improved wages. At the local level, staff promptly enacted the changes outlined in the Workforce Strategy for the wage floor and annual increase to ensure eligible staff receive improved wages promptly.
Professional Development
Ontario is dedicated to enhancing professional development, maintaining initiatives funded through the 2021–22 Early Childhood Workforce Agreement. Extensive consultations with sector partners have been conducted to address the shortage of RECEs and implement interventions supporting recruitment and retention. These interventions include various professional development opportunities such as training on cultural awareness, mental health, trauma, special needs, and anti-racism. The workforce strategy is actively underway.
EarlyON Child and Family Centres
EarlyON Child and Family Centre programs and services are offered through a variety of service delivery methods to meet the unique needs of families in their communities, including mobile, virtual, and outdoor programs.
As of June 2023, there were 671 main EarlyON Child and Family Centre locations and 442 mobile/satellite locations. In our district there are 4 main sites and 12 mobile/satellite sites. French-language programming is provided in Sudbury North, Lacloche, and Sudbury East, Indigenous-led programming is offered throughout the district, the main sites all offer extended hours (evening and weekend).
Early Years Developmental Health and Well-Being (EDI)
The Early Development Instrument (EDI) acts as a thorough assessment tool, addressing five crucial aspects of child development. Children, with their educator, between the ages of 3.5 and 6.5 years complete the EDI questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluates their capability to meet age-appropriate developmental expectations across five broad domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. After educators administer the EDI for each child in their class, the results are compiled to offer an overview of children's progress. Historically, EDI findings in the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB area have closely mirrored those of the Province. The Ministry of Education is currently in the final stages of compiling the 2023 EDI data from Cycle 6, which took place during the 2022-23 school year, for distribution to school boards and municipalities.
Cycle 6 of the EDI collection would have started in 2021 but was delayed for two years by the pandemic. Collection of data began in the spring of 2023 and data analysis and reporting will take place in 2024. Further information will be shared upon receipt of the results.
Conclusion
This report offers an annual overview and comprehensive trends of both the provincial and local child care sector and will help inform in shaping future system planning. Staff will continue to provide the Board with updates regarding the early years and child care system, including key data and measures.