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, …