For over a half-century, working parents in Toronto have struggled with access to child care.  From an absence of child care spaces located in their neighbourhood to the lack of affordable fees, parents have often had to make stressful and difficult decisions that negatively affect their ability to work and income.  Educators, advocates, and civic leaders have long called for a coherent child care system at the Federal, Provincial and Municipal level.

The signing of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement between the Province of Ontario and Federal Government in March 2022 provided a significant opportunity to make child care more accessible and affordable to families. The five-year plan, being rolled out in stages, will reduce fees every year until 2026 with the objective of reaching an average fee of $10 a day.

We are now two years into the transformation of Ontario’s child care system.  Not unexpectedly, the implementation of the CWELCC has not been without its challenges.  As predicted by Policy Options in 2021, we are learning that affordability and accessibility are not synonymous.  Indeed, the substantial lowering of fees has made child care within reach of more low- and middle-income families, has in turn increased the demand for child care space.  Although this report finds that the number and availability of child care spaces in Toronto has grown over the last two years, this growth is being constrained by the difficulties in finding qualified child care staff.

The implementation of the CWELCC has caused upheaval and interim stress for both parents and the system itself – it is critically important to get it right.  An accessible and affordable child care system in Toronto creates positive long-term economic and social outcomes for parents, children, and communities.  Evidence indicates that quality child care leads to:

• Higher labour force participation rates, particularly among women. Given current and forecasted future labour market shortages; unlocking of worker availability is critical.
• Positive effects on child cognitive and social development, improves school-readiness, and creates a foundation for lifelong learning.
• The potential for higher fertility rates. Our low fertility rates are causing a rapid population aging and increased stress on the labour market and public health care. Accessibility to child care and barriers caused by the cost, is often cited by potential parents as why they will delay or not have children.

As Canada’s largest city, Toronto presents unique opportunities and challenges with respect to child care. Workers with unpredictable schedules looking for non-standard hours of child care services face nearly insurmountable barriers. Low-income families looking for subsidized child care or families who rely on Toronto’s transit system to drop off/pick up their child(ren) to and from the centre may face more impediments to accessing services. As, per the Global Transport Report 2022, Toronto had the longest distance per commute in North America, based on trips taken via the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), GO Transit and other regional transportation providers.

Drawing on a variety of quantitative and qualitative information this report focuses on the current state of the child care industry and its workforce in the context of Toronto. Although numbers show that there has been an increase in the number of child care spots over the years, the fact that parents are facing difficulties in securing a spot is an indicator that there are still ongoing challenges related to the availability of spaces. The major roadblock is the current staffing shortages faced by the child care industry, particularly the shortage of qualified Early Childhood Educators (ECEs). There is evidence suggesting that centres are struggling to run programs at their optimal capacity due to recruitment and retention challenges of child care workers.

Key findings from the report: 

• The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement between the Province of Ontario and Federal Government to lower fees is having its intended effect: it has created more affordable licensed child care services for families in Toronto.
• Over the past decade, there has been a notable increase in the number of licensed child care centres in Toronto for all types of programs (infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and school age). However, most of the increase in child care space has occurred in before and after school program. Increase in spaces for infants and toddlers has been far more modest.
• Current efforts made by the Province of Ontario and stakeholders to increase the number of child care spaces is being undermined by the lack of Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs). While the Province of Ontario has moved to increase wages of RECE’s, it remains unclear if this alone is sufficient to attract and retain frontline staff.
• Many parents still rely on unlicensed child care because of cost or proximity to where they live. Unlicensed child care operates in a policy grey area. While technically illegal, governments have been reluctant to enforce licensing because of the strain it would cause to families using it.  The City of Toronto and Province of Ontario should consider approaches or initiative to support unregulated child care providers to transition to becoming licensed.
• Toronto has a numerous day care “deserts” and these deserts appear to correlate with neighbourhood’s that have high rates of working poor, low-income families, and transit poverty.

Statistics Canada’s survey on Early Learning and Child Care Arrangements 2022 found that 42% of Canadian parents postponed returning to work in 2022 due to difficulties in finding child care. According to the latest Statistics Canada report, the proportion of children aged 0-5 years participating in child care in Ontario was lower in 2023 (48%) than in 2019 (54%), but higher than in 2022 (41%). The proportion of parents who used child care and who reported having difficulty finding it in Ontario increased from 50% in 2019 to 64% in 2023. Finding affordable care also remained a common concern among parents, but the percentage of those reporting this concern declined from 54% in 2019 to 39.5% in 2023. The challenge of securing a child care spot in Toronto is no less than the province. Although numbers indicate that there has been an increase in the number of child care spots over the years, parents are facing difficulties to find a spot. The one of the primary reasons behind this is the shortage of child care workers in the industry. In short, given that child care is now more affordable, the growth in the demand for child care has outpaced the growth in child care spaces.

Staffing shortages in child care is not a new issue. However, with the influx of new child care spaces caused by the $10 a day child care, the child care industry needs more workers. The current shortage of qualified ECEs is limiting the positive impacts of the reduced child care fee. Ontario forecast a shortage of 8,500 RECEs by 2026 and although the new legislation aims to bring  more equity into the system, the number of RECEs in Toronto has not kept pace with the increase in child care spots.

The accessibility of child care is more than just a family issue. The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario estimated that reduced child care fees in Ontario could increase the core-age female labour force participation rate to between 85.6% and 87.1% by 2027. This would add 50,900 to 98,600 more women to Ontario’s labour force. Improved labour supply is of direct relevance to employers and the business community as this would mean employers are not left grappling with scarcity of skilled workers. As indicated in a recent Statistics Canada report, the non-employment of some parents with children under the age of 6, may be influenced by the costs of child care outweighing the benefits of working. Access to lower-cost child care services may help non-working parents in these circumstances take part in the labour market.

In 2022, the labour participation rate of Ontario mothers with young children aged 0-5 years old was 17.5 percentage points lower than fathers^[i]. This gap in the labour market participation of mothers reflects child care responsibilities which tend to be greater at the earlier stages of the child’s life. The child care industry is an important economic driver for a country as the labour force attachment of individuals with children is linked to the availability of child care support. TD Economics has pointed to a range of studies that have shown that for every dollar spent on early childhood education, the broader economy receives between $1.50 and $2.80 in return.

Given the relevance of the child care industry^[ii] and its key occupations- Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (ECEA) and Home Child Care Providers (HCCP), this report builds on child care industry literature and provides a snapshot of the current child care landscape in Toronto and Ontario. Drawing on a variety of data sets, the work in this report focuses on what can be done to improve the capacity of the child care industry and its workforce. The report provides an overview of the Home-Child Care Agencies and uses the Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services to analyse the role of the unlicensed child care sector in Ontario. The report takes a deeper dive into the topic by analyzing the labour market characteristics of the child care industry and its key occupations. Through one-on-one interviews and consultations with advocates and experts in the industry (that included the College of Early Child Childhood Educators, Licensed Child Care Centre, Home Child Care Agency, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, and Toronto Children’s Services) the report outlines some key insights on the child care industry. Finally, the appendix reports on the findings of job posting statistics for the child care industry as well as the occupations-Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (ECEAs) and Home Child Care Providers (HCCP) in Toronto.

A national child care program was first recommended in 1970 by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, but there had not yet been a Canada-wide child care policy until recently. The April 2021 federal budget’s $30 billion investment over five years and permanent funding of approximately $9.2 billion annually in child care, marked an important policy advancement for the Canadian economy especially for women and children. The CWELCC plan was announced by the Province of Ontario in March 2022 to support families by providing funding for licensed child care services. The goal was to make child care more affordable, accessible, and inclusive for families with children under the age of five.

For the many Toronto families, child care usage is often dependent on the cost of child care services.  In 2022, child care usage among families with children below the age of six was 41% in Ontario compared to 71% in Quebec. From 2021 to 2022, the first year the reduced child care fees started taking effect, it was reported by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario that the labour force participation rates for mothers with young children rose 2.4 percentage points.

Every licensed child care provider (centre-based or home-based child care) serving children under the age of six (or turning six before June 30) is eligible to apply for enrolment in the CWELCC system, provided they meet program requirements. In Toronto, 1,054 licenced child care operators are eligible to opt-in or opt-out of CWELCC and this includes commercial, not-for-profit, public child care centres and licenced home child care. As of December 2022, 92% of the licensed child care operators in Ontario opted into the program and effective December 31, 2022, child care fees were brought down to 50% of the 2020 fees. By September 2025, licensed child care centres are expected to lower their fees to an average of $10 per day.

 

Table 1: Participation of Licensed Child Care Centres in $10 a day Child Care Agreement, City of Toronto

Types of Operators	No of Participants in the $10 a day Child Care Agreement	Total Number of Licensed Child Care Centres	Percentage of Operators Participating in the $10 a day Child Care Agreement
City	37	37	100%
Non-Profit	632	688	92%
Commercial	217	321	68%
Total	886	1,046	85%

Source: Children’s Services, City of Toronto

 

Table 1 shows the percentage of licensed child care centres who participated in the $10 a day child care agreement in Toronto^[iii]. As of November 2023, approximately 85% of the total child care centres and 88% of Home Child Care Agencies opted into the agreement. While recent headlines might suggest that some child care providers in Toronto are opting out of the initiative, the number of licensed child care spaces (centre based) increased and were more affordable. Using City of Toronto’s Children’s Services data, we found that compared to Jan 2022, there were 5.5% more child care spaces in Toronto in December 2023.

Under the CWELCC agreement, the province is also committed to create approximately 86,000 new licensed child care spaces by the end of 2026 for children five years and under. The expansion plan is based on five pillars: improved affordability, improved access, sustaining high-quality services, inclusion, and enhanced data and reporting. In January 2023, child care providers’ CWELCC enrolment shifted to targeted growth and focused on creating affordable child care spaces in underprivileged communities.

The agreement also focuses on enhancing the quality of child care programs by improving the wages, benefits, professional development, and career pathways of the RECEs working in a licensed child care setup with children below the age of 12 years.

 

Table 2: Median Daily Fees (Full-Time) Prior to the $10 a day Child Care Agreement, Licensed Child Care Centres, City of Toronto

	Infant	Toddler	Preschool	Before and After Full-Day Kindergarten	Before and After School
Jun-15	$82.11	$64.00	$47.60	$31.73	$24.78
Jun-16	$85.00	$65.30	$49.00	$32.00	$23.57
Jun-17	$85.00	$65.00	$50.00	$32.07	$25.00
Jun-18	$85.50	$65.34	$50.25	$31.72	$25.93
Jun-19	$86.00	$65.17	$50.00	$31.40	$25.92
Jun-21	$89.70	$65.71	$51.00	$31.24	$26.21
Jun-22	$89.70	$66.00	$51.00	$30.80	$27.16

Source: Budget Notes Children’s Services, City of Toronto

 

Table 2 shows the daily fees paid by families for using licensed child care centre services in Toronto between 2015 and 2022. While most centres fall within these ranges, there are still some that may charge above or below. These fees were prior to the implementation of the $10 a day child care agreement signed by the government of Ontario.

 

Table 3: Average Daily Fees (Full-Time) after the Introduction of the $10 a day Child Care Agreement, Licensed Child Care Centres, City of Toronto

	Infant	Toddler	Preschool	Before and After Full-Day Kindergarten
Jun-23	$32.19	$29.21	$24.29	$14.68

Source: 2023 Budget Notes Children’s Services, City of Toronto

 

Table 3 highlights the impact of the CWELCC agreement on the fees for distinct types of programs offered by licensed child care centres in Toronto. With average regulated child care fees reduced by 50%, Ontario families could save up to $8500^[iv] annually on licensed child care per child, as of April 2023. Unlicensed programs are not eligible to participate in the CWELCC system and this includes unlicensed Home Child Care Providers, authorized recreation programs and school board-operated extended day programs.

 

Source: Children’s Services, City of Toronto

 

A child care subsidy is available for families who need help with the cost of licensed child care programs. An additional fee reduction may be applied to the fee subsidy if the parent chooses a program (licensed center or licensed home-based child care) that is participating in the $10 a day child care agreement. According to Figure 1, in July 2023, 68% of the child care centers in the City of Toronto were subsidized.  The number of children on waitlist for a child care fee subsidy was 14,938 on December 2023. This was an 8.43% decline from previous period.

The child care industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in providing day-care services for infants or children. These establishments may also care for older children when they are not in school and may also offer pre-kindergarten educational programs. Each province, territory and even municipality have their own licensing and regulation processes and standards to adhere to in providing child care. Child care centres in Toronto can either be city operated, non-profit in nature or commercial.

The regulated child care services commonly known as “licensed child care,” is governed by a regulating body (i.e., the province). The unregulated child care service commonly known as “unlicensed child care” is where child care is likely to take place in a home environment and is not required to meet most provincial standards.

There are four types of child care services in Ontario:

• Licensed Child Care Centres: Are governed by a regulating body, the Province of Ontario, that sets the child-to-staff ratios, curriculum framework, minimum required educational training of providers (etc.). The Ministry of Education issues child care licences under the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) and is responsible for the enforcement of that legislation.
• Licensed Home Child Care: Home child care is also regulated. In Canada, there are two models of regulating home child care: a direct licensing model and an agency model. Ontario uses an agency model, whereby Home Child Care Agencies are directly licensed by the province, then agencies approve and manage individual homes. Home Child Care Agencies monitor to ensure that approved homes are following both the government’s rules and regulations and agency’s policies and procedures. Homes contracted with a Home Child Care Agency can display decals to identify them as licensed by the Government of Ontario. They provide professional development, support, and monitoring for Home Child Care Providers (HCCPs). One of the benefits of using licensed home child care is that they may be able to accommodate more flexible hours of care which may be required by shift workers.
• Before-School and After-School Care: Public School Boards that offer kindergarten to grade six must also offer before-and-after-school programs based on demand. These programs complement the regular school day with a mix of exploration, guided independent activities, quiet times, and outdoor play. School boards that operate before and after-school programs either enter directly into a third-party agreement with a licensed child care centre or with an authorized recreational and skill building program to operate the program.
• Unlicensed Child Care: There is little information on unregulated child care since it is difficult to locate or track. It is in a grey policy area, with government acknowledging that they exist without necessarily approving of the practice. In Ontario, an unlicensed child care provider can care for a maximum of five children under the age of 13 and no more than three children younger than two years old. The provider is required to count their own children if they are younger than four years old. Unlicensed child care providers must not operate in multiple locations and are required to inform their customers in writing that this child care program is not licensed by the Government of Ontario. There are no required health and safety standards, and no regular monitoring occurs in unlicensed child care programs in Ontario. Government inspection may occur but only following citizen complaints.

Differences in the type of care arrangement used by parents can be largely determined by the child’s age. For example, the 2022 Survey on Before and After School Care in Canada reported that parents of older children were less likely to use before and after- school care because their child could stay home alone or with a sibling. On the other hand, parents of younger children were more likely to use formal care arrangements when compared to parents of older children.

Using a heat map, the report provides a visual representation of the distribution of licensed child care centres in Toronto neighbourhoods. The heat map was generated using the City of Toronto’s licensed child care and a before-after school program locator for Toronto.  The map has built in filters that allow the viewer to explore the presence of licensed centres based on the different types of programs offered. It appears that the availability of licensed child care centre spaces roughly correlates to low-income neighbourhoods.

In a nutshell, licensed child care centre spaces in Toronto have increased for all types of programs (infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and school age). However, this increase has been disproportionately seen in the before and after school programs (kindergarten and school age) than in the infant, toddler and preschool categories. It is an observation that the system is responding more to the need for the before and after school care programs compared to the infant, toddler, and preschool program. These findings are consistent with the latest report on child care coverage titled “Not Done Yet”. The coverage rate for infants in Toronto was 16%.

When compared to other regions and municipalities in Ontario, Toronto at face value, would appear to be preforming reasonably well in terms of child care availability. However, access to child care can be described as uneven at best. An informal examination of the distribution of the licensed child care centres against Toronto’s Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIA), indicates that Toronto has a number of day care “deserts”, and these deserts appear to correlate with NIA. These areas have structural inequity, including high rates of working poor, low-income families, and transit poverty. This is particularly noticeable in the Rexdale, Morningside, and Scarborough Town Centre areas of the city.

Child care workers are an integral part of the child care ecosystem. This section summarizes the key occupations that make up the child care workforce in the country. In regulated child care settings, workers who have the most direct role in child care provision are the frontline Early Childhood Educators and Assistants, Centre Directors and licensed Home Child Care Providers. They work with children and families on a daily basis. This paper used the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC) to look at two broad groups of child care workers: Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (ECEAs) and Home Child Care Providers (HCCPs).

Early Childhood Educators and Assistants

Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) or Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) and Early Childhood Educator Assistants (ECEAs) are trained professionals who specialize in the early development and learning of children between the ages of infancy and 12 years. ECEAs provide care for children under the guidance of ECEs.

To become a RECE, an individual must be registered with the College of Early Childhood Educators that regulates Ontario’s profession of early childhood education in the public’s interest. The College helps protect children and families by setting registration requirements, ethical and professional standards for ECEs, and governing member conduct through a complaints and discipline process.

Only members of the College can use the title “Early Childhood Educator” (ECE) and “Registered Early Childhood Educator” (RECE) and only individuals who have met the registration requirements of the College and hold a Certificate of Registration in good standing may practise the profession of early childhood education.

The majority of Early Childhood Educators are employed in child day-care services and elementary schools. According to Job Bank Canada, they mainly work in sectors like the Social assistance (78%) and Elementary and secondary schools (16%).

The category of RECEs also includes the following roles:

• Child Care Supervisors: In addition to having the role and duties of a RECE, supervisors play a leadership role in licensed child care centres, overseeing the different child care programs in the centre and the staff employed.
• Resource Consultants: They are typically RECEs, who have specialized training and/or qualifications in providing individualized supports for children with special needs. They support staff and parents in working with children with special needs who attend licensed child care.
• Home Child Care Providers: Home Child Care Providers supervise and care for children primarily in their own homes or in the children’s homes, where they may also reside. They are employed by private households, child-care agencies, or they may be self-employed.
• Home Visitors: Home Visitors work for licensed Home Child Care Agencies to screen and monitor licensed Home Child Care Providers. They must be either a member in good standing of the College of Early Childhood Educators, with at least two years of experience working with children or approved by a director, who is an employee of the Ministry of Education. They also help families find a Home Child Care Provider who meets their needs. They support the Home Child Care Provider in designing programs, planning nutritious meals, and ensuring health, safety and development standards are met.
• Other program staff working directly with children: This category includes individuals who work with children and families in licensed child care but are not registered members of the College of Early Childhood Educators. Titles in this role can include child care worker, daycare worker, family support worker, and child care assistant. In addition, program staff can include program assistants or enhanced staff who work with children with special needs.

Using Jobs TO data, the report found that between December 2022 and November 2023, there were a total of 1,646 active job postings (See Appendix A, Table A1) made by the Child Day-care Services industry in Toronto. Based on these job posting numbers, apart from the ECEAs, employers in the child care industry also advertises job postings for other occupations like Cooks, Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers, and Related Support Occupations and, Social and Community Service Workers. There was a total of 1,276 active job postings for the ECEAs position and 400 for the role of HCCP during the same period. While the average posting duration for ECEAs was 25 days, it was significantly higher at 71 days for the Home Child Care Providers. Appendix A (Figure A1, A2 and A3) represents the 12-month trend in active job postings and trend in the number of companies hiring for the two occupations ECEAs, Home Child Care Providers and the overall industry Child Day-Care Services in Toronto.

The quality of the early childhood programs is largely dependent on the staff who implement the programs and the most crucial factors affecting this quality is the caregiver’s education, qualifications and training and experience.

To be hired as an ECE or ECEA in Ontario, a professional license from the College of Early Childhood Educators is required. They are employed in child-care centres, daycare centres, kindergartens, agencies for exceptional children and other settings where early childhood education services are provided. Using the December 2022 to November 2023 Job Posting Data (See Appendix A, Table A1), the top five sectors that had high demand for ECEAs in Toronto were Child Day-Care Services, Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services, Civic and Social Organizations, Human Resources Consulting Services and All Other Schools and Instruction.

Educational requirements to work in regulated daycares vary by province. For example, in Ontario child care centres, one-third of the staff responsible for an infant group or a toddler group must have a two-year early childhood education (ECE) diploma and two-thirds of staff with a preschool-age group must have a two-year ECE diploma.  According to the Government of Canada website and based on the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC) an employer typically demands the completion of a two- to four-year college program in early childhood education or a bachelor’s degree in child development. ECEAs can be required to have some experience in child care, complete secondary school or have attained a childhood education assistant certificate program or post-secondary courses in early childhood education.

Typically, a Home Child Care Provider must have completed high school or its equivalency and training programs in child care or a related field. Child care or household management experience may be required. Home Agencies may also require Home Child Care Providers to have first aid certifications and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training.

 

Table 6: Highest Levels of Education of Child Care Workers Compared to All Other Workers, Toronto CMA, Census 2021

	Early Childhood Educators & Assistants	Home Child Care Providers	Total, Child Care Workers	All Other Workers
No certificate, diploma, or degree	2%	5%	3%	4%
Secondary (high) school diploma and equivalency certificate	10%	28%	15%	16%
Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma	2%	4%	2%	3%
College or other non-university certificate or diploma	52%	22%	43%	18%
University certificate or diploma below bachelor level	4%	8%	5%	3%
University certificate, diploma or degree at bachelor level or above	30%	33%	31%	55%

Source: Census 2021

 

Table 6 above reports the Census 2021 statistics for the highest level of education attained by child care workers and all other workers in Toronto CMA.  According to Census 2021, 51% of child care workers in Toronto CMA had a postsecondary education^[ix]. However, there were differences among the two groups of child care workers. ECEAs (58%) were more likely to have an education level above a high school diploma compared with HCCPs (34%).  During the Census 2021 period in Toronto, CMA, the highest level of educational attainment for all other workers appeared to be Bachelor’s degree or higher (55%). Since most landed immigrants are likely to reside in Toronto CMA, a good share of ECEs and ECAs (30%) and HCCPs (33%) happen to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher making them overqualified for this role.

This section provides a statistical overview of the child care workforce in Toronto with a focus on trends in the levels of employment, rates of unemployment, hours worked (full-time versus part-time), job tenure, income and share of employment (Immigrant or Canadian born). The child care industry and its labour market characteristics are essential because any changes will likely have implications on the well-being of the children and families using child care services.

 

Source: Labour Force Survey

 

Figure 11 shows how total employment in Child Day-Care Services has trended over the last decade, comparatively, in the City of Toronto, Greater Toronto Area and Ontario from 2013 to 2022. In all three geographies, the level of employment has been on a downward arc, following a pattern of decline over the last decade with exceptions in the years 2015 and 2019.

In 2022, 13% of employment in the child care industry in Toronto CMA comprised of 13% of newcomer immigrants (immigrants landed 5 years or earlier). This was two times more than the newcomer immigrants employed at all other industry at 6% in Toronto, CMA for the year 2022.

 

Source: Labour Force Survey

 

Figure 12 above compares the average Job Tenure (in years), for workers in child care services in Toronto, Ontario and Canada, for the year 2022. It appears that the average job tenure of worker in the child care industry in Toronto was 7 years compared to an average tenure of 6 years in Canada and Ontario during the same period. However, when compared to the average job tenure in all other industries, workers in the Child Day-Care Services in Ontario and Canada spend two fewer years in a job. In the case of Toronto, the average job tenure is the same 7 years for workers in all other industries as well as the Child Day-care Services industry.

 

Source: Labour Force Survey

 

When it comes to unemployment, different industries and occupations are affected in distinct ways by the changes in economic circumstances. Figure 13 compares the trend in the unemployment rate in the child care industry with all other industries in Ontario.

It appears that over the years the unemployment rate in the child care industry has fared better than the unemployment rate in all other industries. Of course, the rate took a significant dip rising to 12.5% compared to 9.6% for all other industries during the pandemic. In 2022, the unemployment rate in the child care industry stood at 3.6% lower compared to the unemployment rate of 5.6% in all other industries but higher than the pre-pandemic level of child care industry unemployment rate at 2.2% in 2019.

In 2022, the average wage in the child care industry was $22.87/hour, the highest in the past decade.

 

Source: Labour Force Survey

 

Figure 14 shows that there has been an upward trend in the average hourly wage in the child care industry in the past ten years. In 2022, the hourly wage in the child day care industry was 22% more than 2013. During the same period, the rate of inflation was 24.78% indicating that the wage increase has not kept up with inflation. The Province of Ontario’s November 2023 announcement of a rise in the wage ceiling and wage floor of the RECEs, means that the average hourly wage in 2024 will be higher than what we see in Figure 14.

 

Table 7: Median Employment Income (Annual), for Key Occupations in Child Care, Census 2021

Median Employment Income	Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (ECEAs)	Home Child Care Providers (HCCPs)
Toronto, CMA	$41,600	$29,000
Ontario	$39,600	$24,600
Canada	$37,600	$24,400

Source: Census 2021

 

Table 7 gives additional insight into the annual earnings of child care workers. It highlights the Census 2021 data on the median employment income (annual) for key occupations in the child care industry. According to the 2021 Census data, child care workers, be it ECEAs or HCCPs, earned slightly more in Toronto, CMA compared to Ontario and Canada. However, HCCPs^[x] earned notably less than ECEAs in all three geographic comparisons.

Using Census 2021 data, we checked how the income for ECEs compared to some occupations^[xi] that have less educational requirements and job training in Toronto. The results have been listed in order of ascending salary.

• Receptionists ($40,000)
• Hotel front desk clerks ($40,800)
• Security guards and related security service occupations ($41,200)
• Nursery and greenhouse labourers ($44,000)
• Service station attendant (45,600)
• Shippers and Receivers ($46,400)
• Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale ($47,600)
• Couriers and messengers ($49,600)
• Janitors, caretakers, and heavy-duty cleaners ($51,600)
• Operators and attendants in amusement, recreation, and sport ($62,000).

It appears that ECEs, who play an integral role in helping our children build the foundational blocks of learning, social interaction, cognitive development, and emotional regulation may not be receiving competitive wages when compared to occupations requiring lower education and job training in Toronto. Although the Province of Ontario has raised wages, we don’t know if this is sufficient.

Several studies on the child care industry and associated occupations have reported that child care workers feel overwhelmed, exhausted, under-appreciated and underpaid. A survey of Early Childhood Educators’ well-being conducted by the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) found that 60 percent of employees felt their salaries do not accurately reflect the work they do, and 68 per cent said they feel “worn out.”

The Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) have expressed concerns that while the government is supporting the early care workforce through investing in tuition and training grants, existing child care workers continue to leave the profession as they feel their wages and benefits are not a correct reflection of their workload. AECEO also underscored that if the retention issue is not resolved, the industry will struggle to build a long-term qualified and sustainable workforce.

 

Since 2014, the Government of Ontario has supported the recruitment and retention of RECEs in licensed child care centres through the Provincial Wage Enhancement (PWE) Grant. In 2023, the Ontario government made an ongoing funding commitment to support a wage enhancement for eligible child care professionals working in licensed child care settings. The PWE funding aims to close the wage gap between RECE wages in the education and licensed child care sectors; help licensed centres retain RECEs/child care staff; and support greater employment and income security.

In November 2023, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Ontario’s launching of the most significant and comprehensive Child Care Workforce Strategy to date with a plan that includes increasing the starting wage (minimum wage) and wage ceiling for RECEs employed by child care operators enrolled in the CWELCC system. RECEs working in licensed child care programs that opt into the $10 a day child care agreement can also be eligible for some new workforce compensation funding. There are two separate streams of the workforce compensation funding: the Wage Floor and the Annual Increase. In 2023, RECE program staff working in licensed child care had a wage floor of $19/hour, and RECE child care supervisors or RECE Home Child Care Visitors had a wage floor of $21/hour.

 

Table 8: Wage Grid of Key Occupations in Child Care, Ontario

	2024 wage floor	2025 wage floor	2026 wage floor
RECE Program Staff	$23.86	$24.86	$25.86
RECE Child Care Supervisors or RECE Home Child Care Visitors	$24.86	$25.86	$26.86

Source: Province of Ontario

 

Table 8 shows the wage grid of key occupations in the child care industry from 2024-2026. Starting in 2024, the minimum wage of RECEs in most licensed child-care centres is set to rise to $23.86/hour, up from a planned increase to $20/hour. The strategy also calls for RECE supervisors and Home Child Care Visitors to see a wage boost from $22/hour to $24.86/hour. Starting wages will increase by $1/hour each year through to 2026.  The wage ceiling is also set to rise. Any RECE program staff making less than $26/hour will be eligible for the existing annual increase of up to $1/hour. In 2025, eligibility will be expanded to include those earning less than $27/hour, and in 2026 for those earning less than $28/hour. Currently, only RECEs earning less than $25/hour are eligible for this increase. RECE supervisors and Home Child Care Visitors earning less than $29/hour in 2024, less than $30/hour in 2025, and less than $31/hour in 2026 will also be eligible for the annual increase.

The Province of Ontario expects 75% of RECEs currently working in child care centres that opted in the CWELCC agreement will benefit from the wage bump attracting more individuals into becoming RECEs. This new hourly rate will bring them in line with the starting wages of RECEs working in a public school board, helping to narrow the wage gap and create interest in the profession. The workforce strategy also includes funding to establish a dedicated professional development day, and doubling funding for a program that helps non-ECE child-care staff get an ECE diploma by paying their tuition and other costs.

Appendix A: Labour Market Insights Based on Job Postings in the Child Care Eco System

 

Table A1: Labour Market Insights Based on Job Postings in the Child Care Industry and Key Occupations, City of Toronto, December 2022- November 2023

	NOC: Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (ECEA)	NOC: Home Child Care Providers (HCCP)	NAIC: Child Day-Care Services
Active Job Postings	1,276	400	1,646
Average Posting Duration	25 days	71 days	25 days
Job Type (Full-Time Vs Part-Time)	Full-time (69%) Part-time (31%)	Full-Time (97%) Part-Time (3%)	Full-Time (70%) Part-Time (30%)
Top Five Hiring Employers	The Macaulay Child Development Centre (76) Sentient HR Services Inc. (42) BrightPath Kids Canada (39) Viva Kids Academy (24) YMCA of Greater Toronto (24).	Private Household (6) Christian Hamaoka (4) Fowzi Abdullahi (4) Poonam Puri (4) Stefan Lundrigan (4)	Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (246) The Macaulay Child Development Centre (133) BrightPath Kids Canada (91) BGC St. Alban' s Club (54) Ideal Child Services Group (48)
Top Five In-Demand Skills	First Aid, Support, Communication, Social, Standing	Social, Hygiene, Social Development, Reliability, Criminal Record Check	First aid, Communication, Social, Support, Planning
Top Three Language Skills	French (83), Mandarin (3), Spanish (3)	French (2), Cantonese (1), Mandarin (1), Vietnamese (1)	French (233), Mandarin (5), Cantonese (2)
Top Five In-Demand Sectors/Occupations	Top Five In-Demand Sectors Child day-care services (724) Employment placement agencies and executive search services (77) Civic and social organizations (68) Human resources consulting services (57) All other schools and instruction (56).	Top Five In-Demand Sectors Private households (52) Offices of lawyers (7) Home health care services (6) New car dealers (2) Translation and interpretation services (2)	Top Five In-Demand Occupations Early childhood educators and assistants (724) Hotel front desk clerks (26) Cooks (23) Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations (20) Social and community service workers (12)

Source: https://workforceinnovation.ca/ Job Posting Data. This report presents information sourced from job ads posted by employers and agencies on over 50 publicly accessible websites.

 

Appendix A, Figure A1

Source: https://workforceinnovation.ca/ Job Posting Data. This report presents information sourced from job ads posted by employers and agencies on over 50 publicly accessible websites.

 

Appendix A, Figure A2

Source: https://workforceinnovation.ca/ Job Posting Data. This report presents information sourced from job ads posted by employers and agencies on over 50 publicly accessible websites.

 

Appendix A, Figure A3

Source: https://workforceinnovation.ca/ Job Posting Data. This report presents information sourced from job ads posted by employers and agencies on over 50 publicly accessible websites.