Ontario weakened its $10-a-day child care funding rules. Now the federal government is demanding answers about the Ontario decision-making process.
The Liberals, in a move expected to be celebrated across the country if not the world, announced during the federal election campaign last week that they would not renew the Conservative government’s decision to reduce funding for provinces to provide care for their children in the form of family daycare.
The Liberals’ decision was prompted by Ontario’s move to limit its own funding for child daycare subsidies in response to a move by the Conservatives to reduce funding for daycare subsidies elsewhere for two years.
But the Liberals’ decision was motivated also by the fact that they were worried that the Conservative government’s move would hurt daycare affordability.
A daycare funding change is not the same as a tax cut. Indeed, there are many different ways to cut taxes for Ontario daycare providers.
The Liberals’ sudden decision to increase the amount of daycare subsidies they are offering to families, starting in 2019, was widely expected to have a major impact on the cost of daycare in Ontario. A $2,700 cut in the amount of child care subsidies provided by the province to families through their providers would have the exact opposite effect.
The Liberals’ decision to offer more subsidies for child care providers led to the Ontario Child-Centred Services Review, a study commissioned by the Liberals with a two-year review of the care and support provided by Ontario’s various providers and paid for by the province.
The Liberals’ decision was a smart one. The province has always had good reason to fear that cutting funding for the province’s family daycare providers would have an adverse impact on the overall availability of affordable daycare in the province.
But the Liberals’ sudden decision to increase the amount of daycare subsidies they are offering to families, starting in 2019, was widely expected to have a major impact on the cost of daycare in Ontario. A $2,700 cut in the amount of child care subsidies provided by the province to families through their providers would have the exact opposite effect.
The Liberals’ decision was a smart one. The province has always had good reason to fear that cutting funding for the province’s family daycare providers would have an adverse impact on the overall availability of