Ontario daycare funding changes moving ahead as private operators protest [Video]

Ontario’s education minister says the province will be moving forward with planned changes to its $10-a-day child care funding formula despite calls from private daycare operators asking to put the move on hold.

Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop made the comments to reporters as several private daycare operators in the GTA closed their doors to take part in a protest at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.

“We introduced a funding formula and the operators were part of those conversations,” Dunlop said Tuesday. “We will be moving forward January 1st.”

Independent daycare operators across Ontario have been speaking out against what they say are the negative impacts of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program, the national $10-a-day program that has reduced parent fees by more than 50 per cent since it was implemented in 2022.

At issue, they say, is the way the province plans to fund these centres …