Ontario's $10-a-day childcare goal slips further as waitlists balloon to 700 at some centres

Ontario has created just shy of 60,000 affordable childcare spaces against a provincial target of 86,000 by this year, leaving families desperate for spots and daycares turning away hundreds.

The financial accountability officer estimates the demand spurred by lower fees will actually need closer to 220,000 new spaces. Ontario joined the federal Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program four years ago, capping fees at $22 a day — down from upwards of $70 before the program launched. About half of Canadian provinces now offer average fees of $10 a day; Ontario has not yet hit that mark.

Waitlists have exploded since 2022. Blossoming Minds daycare in Toronto closed its waitlist on more than one occasion due to demand. Before the program, its waitlist typically ran between 300 and 400 children. Since the $10-a-day program launched, it has surpassed 700. Director Maggie Moser said the math is brutal: "You have to figure, if we have 700 names on our list, in two years 600 of those people will not get a spot."

Across Ontario, the picture is equally stark. Region of Waterloo has approximately 15,000 children on its waitlist — a 200 per cent increase since 2021. Thunder Bay's infant-space waitlist alone carries 1,235 children, with one-third listed as needing care soon. Ottawa has seen a 300 per cent increase since 2021.

Angela Zhu, a Toronto parent, joined 40 different waitlists while pregnant. She waited one year after giving birth before receiving her first offer — a daycare 30 minutes away, with a start date nearly a month after she was supposed to return to work. She didn't get a neighbourhood spot until more than three years after first joining the lists. Education Minister Paul Calandra's office said Ontario remains committed to expanding access to affordable childcare, but the gap between commitment and capacity keeps widening.