Funding agreements across governments have allowed the Ontario YMCA to opt in to the national program for more affordable daycare.

Today's joint announcment from all Ontario YMCAs follows the $13.2-billion five-year agreement between the province and the federal government in March to lower the cost of child care to an average of $10 a day in three years time. The federal government also provided an additional $2.9 billion for a sixth year of the program.

The province has been enrolling approximately 5,000 licensed child-care centres, around 800 of which are YMCA centres. Once the Ys receive funding from the responsible municipalities, eligible families will receive a rebate and pay lower fees going forward through the agreement term.

The YMCA of Owen Sound Grey Bruce and Ontario YMCA share this announcement:

*****

Today, all Ontario YMCAs jointly announce they will opt in to the Canada Wide Early Learning & Child Care (CWELCC) System.

The province's largest not-for-profit child care provider congratulates governments on this historic milestone while committing to support work ahead.

The system will reduce the average cost of child care to $10 a day on average by 2026. Initial rebates of 25% to April 1 for eligible parents are being processed and eligible Y child care fees will be lowered by more than 50% by January 1, 2023.

As the largest not-for-profit child care provider in Ontario, providing 1/7 of licensed spaces for children 0 to 6, this will deliver more affordable child care thousands of parents at approximately 800 locations.

Once Ys receive funding from the municipalities tasked with this role, tens of thousands of eligible YMCA child care families across Ontario will receive a rebate and pay lower child care fees. YMCAs across Ontario are actively preparing to process rebates as soon as possible.

YMCAs have long advocated for high-quality, affordable and accessible child care alongside others in the sector, and the CWELCC is an historic agreement that commits to these objectives. With a major affordability milestone tomorrow, now is the time to begin the hard work of addressing issues needed to make child care more accessible to families.

"Ys and other child care providers have long advocated for affordable licensed child care and we're thrilled to see this system begin to take shape and benefit families," says Medhat Mahdy, President of YMCA Ontario and President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Toronto.

"The system will also benefit our society and economy by focusing not only on greater affordability but improved access to spaces. Ys across Ontario are committed to working with other providers and all levels of governments to address sector-wide educator shortages and ensure that newly affordable spaces are increasingly available to families."

About YMCA Ontario

• The Y is the largest licensed child care provider in Ontario with more than 10,000 licensed child care spaces, more than 60,000 licensed Before- and After-School Program spaces, and a 55 year history of delivering high-quality child care across the province.
• The YMCA is a charity that provides opportunities for people to shine through a variety of programs and services including health and fitness, licensed child care, camps, employment and immigrant services, education and training, and services for youth, families and seniors.

*****

source: media release, YMCA Ontario / Owen Sound Grey Bruce