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Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) System

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Page Summary

Learn about enrolment and participation in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system.

Update on Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care funding formula

On August 15, 2024, the provincial government released a new Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) funding formula. It takes effect January 1, 2025.

This is a significant transformation of the child care sector in Ontario. Find more information from the Province: More Child Care Fee Reductions Coming for Ontario Families (external link)

The provincial announcement commits to additional funding in 2025. The Province requires this funding be used to ensure families currently in CWELCC pay no more than $22 a day.

No new CWELCC spaces have been allocated in Halton as part of this announcement. We will continue to advocate to the provincial government to ensure as many Halton families as possible receive affordable child care.

Halton Region is reviewing the new provincial guidelines and the approach to implementing the new funding model.

We appreciate your patience during this time. Questions can be directed to childcareservices@halton.ca. You will receive a response as soon as possible.

Background

On , the Federal and Provincial Governments announced a funding agreement that will reduce the cost of child care in Ontario to an average of $10 per day by . The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement includes $13.2 billion for Ontario over six years. This agreement will:

  • Allow participating licensed child care centres and licensed home child care agencies to reduce parent/caregiver fees for children by 50 per cent, on average. By March 2026, licensed child care fees will be lowered to an average of $10 per day.
  • Set a minimum wage floor of $23.86/hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECE) and $24.86/hour for RECE supervisors and RECE home visitors, increasing $1 per hour each year until 2026, up to the wage eligibility ceiling for the year.
  • Create 86,000 licensed child care spaces in Ontario for children under the age of six by the end of 2026 to meet the growing demand for affordable child care.
To learn more about this program:

Key Accomplishments

  • 88% of Halton’s licensed child care programs (child care centres and home child care agencies) are enrolled in CWELCC. There are 272 sites representing a total of 18,639 spaces that are part of CWELCC in Halton.
  • Across CWELCC programs in Halton, child care fees have been reduced by 52.75% from March 2022 rates, providing significant savings for families.
  • Parental contributions for families receiving fee subsidy for child care have also been reduced by 50%.
  • Funding has been provided to ensure RECEs are paid at the 2024 wage floor of $23.86/hour for RECE program staff and $24.86/hour for RECE supervisors and RECE home visitors, and to support up to $2 per hour wage increase for eligible RECE staff in 2024.

Halton Region’s Role

Halton Region’s role in CWELCC is to:

  • Implement provincial guidelines;
  • Develop and implement local policies, procedures and funding approaches;
  • Develop and implement an application and approval process for CWELCC;
  • Administer CWELCC funding through CWELCC Service Agreements;
  • Provide oversight and reconciliation of CWELCC funding; and
  • Report to the Ministry of Education and Halton Regional Council on CWELCC.

 CWELCC Growth and Participation

The Ministry of Education has provided Halton Region with a directed growth plan, which outlines the number of community-based and school-based child care spaces Halton is permitted to add in CWELCC, up to 2026.

Spaces Total spaces
School-based Spaces 88 215 194 88 264 849
Community Spaces 0 190 0 0 347 537
Total 88 405 194 88 611 1,386

For 2024, there is no provincial funding to support enrollment of additional operators in CWELCC or for CWELCC-enrolled operators to expand and create additional community-based spaces in Halton Region.

Child care space allocations are reviewed annually with the Ministry.

It is anticipated that the next allocation of community-based spaces will be 347 spaces in 2026. Halton Region will develop a local directed growth plan which will identify priority neighborhoods for CWELCC expansion, guided by the Ministry of Education’s Access and Inclusion Framework.

School-based spaces are those located in schools and are determined through the Ministry of Education’s capital planning process. Halton will add school based spaces each year up to 2026 in accordance with the Province’s directed growth plan, through school-based, child care construction projects which are already planned and underway.

Child Care Operators Participating in CWELCC: Licence Revisions

As part of the Ministry of Education’s licensing process, CWELCC-enrolled operators seeking a licence revision must submit a request in the Ministry’s Child Care Licensing System (CCLS) and seek service system manager advice for any of the following changes:

  • Licensed capacity
  • Age group served
  • Program hours (e.g. increasing a program from less than six hours to more than six hours)
  • Increase the number of approved contracted homes for licensed home child care agencies

If your licence revision requires additional funding (e.g., adding a new toddler room), the Region will not be able to confirm CWELCC funding eligibility at this time.

Operators will not be able to proceed with a licence revision unless the Region has approved the revision for the purpose of CWELCC funding. Operators are encouraged to contact their Program Analyst to discuss the licence revision prior to submitting the request in CCLS.

Applicants: New Licence Applications

As part of the Ministry of Education’s licensing process, applicants are required to indicate in CCLS whether they intend to enroll in CWELCC. As per Ontario Regulation 137/15 under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA), applicants that intend to apply for CWELCC must obtain advice from Halton Region regarding CWELCC approvals.

If you are seeking to enroll in CWELCC, the Region will not be able to confirm CWELCC funding eligibility at this time.

Applicants that are not approved to enroll in CWELCC can still proceed with the licence application with the Ministry. To proceed with the application, applicants will need to update the application to indicate that they are not intending to apply for CWELCC funding in CCLS.

Note that operators have the option to submit a licence revision to request enrollment in CWELCC in the future. Applicants are encouraged to contact their Ministry Program Advisor regarding any questions about new licence applications.

Alternate Capacities

Where a CWELCC-enrolled operator would like to have one or more of the rooms in the program licensed with an alternate capacity, the operator must first discuss the request with their Program Analyst. The Region will issue a decision regarding whether the alternate capacity request can be supported, as additional funding may be required. The Region’s decision must be documented outside of CCLS in the Ministry’s “Service System Manager (SSM) Confirmation Form”, which can be downloaded from the Tools and Resources section of CCLS.

Fee Reduction

As of December 31, 2022, participating child care operators are required to reduce child care fees by 52.75 per cent from March 2022 rates to a minimum of $12 per day.

Child care operators that enroll in CWELCC will receive funding from the enrollment date, with no funding provided towards retroactive rebates.

There are two types of child care fees: base fees and non-base fees.

Base fees

Base fees are mandatory costs that parents/caregivers must pay to receive child care. This includes anything a child care operator is required to provide under the CCEYA, and any items or services that are part of the fee outlined in the operator’s Parent Handbook. Base fees are eligible for fee reductions.

Non-base fees

Non-base fees are optional items or services that parents/caregivers are not required to pay to receive child care. For example, where a separate fee is charged for optional music classes. Non-base fees are not eligible for fee reductions.

Further information about base and non-base fees are available in the CWELCC Halton Region Guidelines for Child Care Operators.

Workforce Compensation

Child care operators enrolled in the CWELCC may be eligible for workforce compensation funding to support an annual wage increase and a minimum wage floor for eligible staff.

To be eligible for workforce compensation funding, staff must be employed in an eligible position by a CWELCC-enrolled operator. Eligible positions include:

  • RECE Program Staff
  • RECE Child Care Supervisor
  • RECE Home Child Care Visitor
Annual Wage Increase

CWELCC-enrolled operators are required to increase the hourly wage of eligible RECE staff by $1/hour, plus benefits, on January 1 of each year, compounded from the previous year, from 2023 to 2026 up to the wage eligibility ceiling. This means that eligible RECE staff would receive up to a $2 per hour in annual increase funding for 2024, including staff who are:

  • continuing in existing positions;
  • newly filling an existing position (e.g. replacing a previous staff member); or
  • filling a newly created position in 2024.

To receive the annual wage increases, eligible staff must be receiving Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG) funding, and the hourly wage including WEG on December 31, 2023 must be below the wage ceilings outlined in the table below.

Table: Wage Eligibility Ceiling (Per Hour)

Year
2024 $26 $29
2025 $27 $30
2026 $28 $31
Wage Floor

The minimum hourly wage floor amounts for RECEs were set by the Province of Ontario and came into effect on April 1, 2022. A new minimum wage floor will come into effect on . The hourly wage floor amounts for are noted in the table below:

Table: Minimum Hourly Wage Floor Per Hour from 

Eligible Positions
RECE Program Staff $18 $19 $23.86 $24.86 $25.86
RECE Child Care Supervisorsor RECE Home Child Care Visitors $20 $21 $24.86 $25.86 $26.86
Minimum Wage Offset

Child care operators enrolled in CWELCC may be eligible for minimum wage offset funding for eligible staff.

To be eligible for the minimum wage offset funding, staff must be employed by a child care provider that is participating in CWELCC and be in a position as follows:

  • Non-RECE Program Staff
  • Non-RECE Child Care Supervisor
  • Non-RECE Home Child Care Visitor

As of October 1, 2023, minimum wage legislation requires operators to bring the wages of staff to at least $16.55 per hour. To offset the minimum wage increase for eligible operators, the Region will provide funding to operators to cover the incremental amount needed to bring wages for eligible staff from $15.00 to $16.55 per hour.

Minimum wage offset funding is tied to the position and not the individual staff. This means that operators can receive minimum wage offset funding for eligible non-RECE staff in eligible positions in 2024, whether those staff are continuing in existing positions, newly filling an existing eligible position, or filling a newly created eligible position.

Please contact please contact your program analyst or our Children’s Services team at childcareservices@halton.ca for questions about workforce compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Region expect to open CWELCC applications again?

Enrollment for additional child care operators to join CWELCC is currently closed as there is no provincial funding to support growth of CWELCC in Halton at this time.

My CWELCC funding allocations are not sufficient. How do I request additional funding?

If your organization has questions about your CWELCC allocation, please contact your Program Analyst.

When will the next child care fee reduction take place?

The Ministry has communicated that by March 2026, child care fees will be lowered to an average of $10 per day. Information about timelines for additional fee reductions will be shared with operators when available.

Guidance and Resources

The following information is intended for child care centre owners, operators and staff on CWELCC:

Guidelines

For guidance from the Ministry of Education and Halton Region, please review the documents below.

Resources

To find out more information on CWELCC, refer to the Provincial and Regional supporting documents below.

Application Information

Applications for operators to enroll into CWELCC are closed until further notice. Should additional funding become available to expand CWELCC spaces in the future, Halton Region will consider accepting applications at that time.

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