ARMSTRONG: Families left behind as Auditor General warns child care targets are at risk

QUEEN’S PARK — Shadow Minister with responsibility for Child Care and Pensions, Teresa Armstrong (London–Fanshawe), says the Auditor General’s special report confirms the Ford government is failing families by putting affordable child care at risk.

The report projects an almost $2 billion shortfall for child care in 2026/27 and warns that Ontario is not on track to meet its commitments under the Canada-wide Early Learning & Child Care Program (CWELCC).

“Families were promised $10-a-day child care, but under Doug Ford that promise is slipping away,” said Armstrong. “The number of families unable to access child care has tripled since 2019, leaving nearly 70,000 without care. At the same time, more than 80,000 licensed spaces were underutilized last year because centres lacked the budget and staff to make them operational. Parents truly deserve so much better.

The Auditor General found that many of the program’s key commitments, required by March 2026, remain unfulfilled. The Ministry has fallen behind its annual targets for creating spaces, has no up-to-date estimate of how many workers are needed, and does not collect wait list data to properly understand demand across the province. Ontario would need about 50,000 more spaces by March 2026 to meet its target.

The report also calls into question the fact that in 2022, the Ford government claimed to have created 33,000 new CWELCC spaces. Yet as of December 2024, the Auditor General confirmed only 36,000 net new spaces since 2019, suggesting that just 3,000 new spaces were added within those two years of the five-year program.

“Child care is not a luxury. It is essential for working parents and it gives kids the best start,” Armstrong said. “Ford’s failure to plan properly has put the $10-a-day commitment in jeopardy. Without affordable child care, many parents, particularly mothers, will be forced to leave the workforce. That is not only devastating for families, it is also a hit to Ontario’s economy.”

Background:

• The Auditor General reports a projected funding shortfall of about 1.95 billion dollars in 2026/27
• Only about 36,000 net new CWELCC spaces have been added since 2019, with 86,000 required by December 2026
• Nearly 70,000 families are not using child care because they cannot find a space
• About 80,500 CWELCC spaces were not utilized in 2023 due to vacancies or non-operational status
• RECEs make up about 59.5 percent of program staff and up to 10,000 additional RECEs may be needed by 2026
• The Ministry does not centrally track wait lists and has weak performance targets for workforce initiatives