A non-profit daycare in Richmond is about to lose its provincial funding because it never signed up for the national $10-a-day child-care program, but the daycare argues it wasn’t warned about the consequences until after the deadline.
Ontario joined the $10-a-day program, officially called the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system, in 2022.
Since then, eight provinces and territories are currently delivering regulated child care for an average of $10 a day or less, but not Ontario.
To address concerns that the provincial funds weren’t enough to cover costs, Ontario promised a new funding structure in 2025.
As part of that plan, it also said it would pull provincial funding from those not participating in CWELCC, like the Richmond Co-operative Nursery School (RCNS) in Ottawa.
“We just informed the parents this past week and they are really upset,” said president Jenny Rutherford.
“The [CWELCC] is trying to achieve affordable, accessible child care across the country. We already offer that, but we’re being told we’re not going to get funding, so go ahead and raise your prices.”
Why didn’t the nursery sign up?
Rutherford said she didn’t apply for CWELCC because her daycare was already offering affordable service: part-time child care at $12 a day.
“So we thought, why not save the spaces for the daycares that are charging $50 or $60 or $70 a day and give those parents a break?” Rutherford said.
But Rutherford said they didn’t know it would mean their provincial funding would be cut.
The school received just over $33,000 last year.
Rutherford said she wasn’t notified until November, and by that time applications were long-closed — so she couldn’t have applied for CWELCC even if she wanted to.
“We had to read that message probably four times. We thought for sure that it was a mistake,” she said.
Rutherford said they may have enough funding to get through the next year, but couldn’t be sure. She also said she would sign up now if it were possible.
But can the nursery still sign up?
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education told CBC it was up to the City of Ottawa to handle the school’s situation. Though the funding is provincial, CWELCC is managed and distributed by municipalities.
There were two ways to join the CWELCC, said Jason Sabourin, the city’s director of children’s services: providers could opt in back in 2022, or apply in 2023 as by then spaces became limited.
The RCNS did neither, Sabourin wrote in an email.
“We are actively working to find solutions to support their participation in CWELCC while navigating the high demands and provincial constraints.”
Demand “far exceeded” the available spaces, Sabourin said. The city has submitted a request to the province for additional spaces, he said, although that’s still pending.
What does the future look like?
The city suggested the RCNS raise their prices, but that “goes directly against what [CWELCC] is trying to achieve,” Rutherford said.
“If we all of a sudden wanted to use tuition as a way to make up these lost funds from the province, we’re going to price ourselves out of this community,” she said.
In the meantime, local parents have “all offered to help in any way they can,” Rutherford said
Some have been writing testimonials, and Rutherford said she plans to send them to the city — which has told her they’re looking for a way to help her.
But she hasn’t heard anything yet.
“It’s funny, because it’s everybody saying it’s not their responsibility,” she said. “Nobody wants to take responsibility or blame for cutting the funding, and then nobody wants to give it back.”
Ottawa Morning8:04A catch-22 for a daycare in south Ottawa
The Richmond Co-operative Nursery School is losing its provincial funding and scrambling to find solutions.