Simcoe County councillors have heard the clock ticking on the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Cost-Based Funding Guideline, a new approach taking effect Jan. 1, 2025.
Sitting in committee of the whole on Tuesday, councillors received an update on the guideline while approving strategies and an approach to be taken on it.
“This report simply walks us through the new funding formula,” said Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the county’s general manager of social and community services. “We had very little time to roll out the way the funding will be calculated, so we’re looking to use some public-facing tools and resources to educate providers who are part of the … program. That’s the federal $10-a-day program.”
“This is a difficult one and it is about child care, so make sure we reach out to our daycares,” said Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke.
Fayez-Bahgat also said county staff will work with each affected child-care operator to provide clarification on the financial impact, and will also provide clarification about what supports will continue to be available.
Child-care operators who have already applied for 2025 Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care spaces will be prioritized in an attempt to stabilize the impact to the sector. To ensure a smooth transition to the new cost-based funding approach, Ontario's Ministry of Education is providing a one-time allocation of administrative funding to support service system managers.
The incremental allocation for the County of Simcoe is $725,185, and the transfer payment agreement between the county and the Education Ministry will be updated accordingly. Additional funding changes are anticipated to take effect in January, as they pertain to child-care programs that are not enrolled in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, a new cost-based funding approach will replace the current revenue replacement model. Cost-based funding provides support for operating expenses for licensees participating in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program for the delivery of child care to children aged zero to five years.
The Education Ministry recognizes that the transition to the new cost-based funding approach, and the related accountability measures required, will transform sector funding and implementation systems.
So in order to transition approximately 200 licensed child-care providers in Simcoe County to this new funding approach, extensive administrative work will be required — including, but not limited to updating existing policies, funding guidelines, service agreements and creating funding templates, comprehensive service provider training sessions and communication strategies.
As a designated French-language service area, these materials will also be translated into French.
To effectively manage the short transition period, the administrative funding will be used to secure external support to develop and automate funding templates and offer service provider training.
The time, effort and cost associated with this transition will be covered by one-time administrative funding.
Under the new approach, non-Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care enrolled programs may continue to run their operations under the existing provincial licensing and regulatory framework. Starting in 2025, the routine funding intended to support the 0-5 age category will be integrated into the cost-based funding.
This will result in termination of routine funding to approximately 25 Simcoe County child-care programs at the end of the existing funding term, Dec. 31, 2024.
When the complete version of the 2025 funding guidelines are received from the Ministry of Education, a report will be presented to Simcoe County council for review and consideration.
