Province Announces Child Care and Early Years Regulatory Amendments


February 26, 2021

Today the Ministry of Education announced a number of regulatory amendments to the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA). The amended regulations will take effect on March 8, 2021, and aim to increase accessibility and affordability in child care and early years services, through:
 

  • Exempting certain authorized recreational providers from their three-hour operating limit, improving access to select before and after school programs for families with school-age children

  • Enhancing health and safety protections in licensed child care settings, such as requirements to support contact tracing by local public health, new requirements for home-based child care and updates to the safe storage of potentially poisonous and hazardous items

  • Reducing regulatory/administrative burden on child care operators by removing redundant and unnecessary requirements for all providers. This includes the removal of duplicate requirements related to the collection of children's emergency contact information, allowing records and documents required by the regulation to be kept in digital format, and no longer requiring licensees to seek ministry approval for children 44 months and up to bring their own meals from home.
     

The full text of the amended regulations should be available here on the Province's website as of March 8, 2021.

Ontario's CMSMs and DSSABs were consulted on these changes through OMSSA's Leadership Table, Children’s Services Sector Leads group and Children’s Services Network, as well as the EYCC provincial-municipal technical table. 

OMSSA is pleased to see that the Province considered and heeded input and feedback from our membership and looks forward to working in partnership with the Ministry of Education to sustain and expand the child care and early years sector, which will continue to be a critical component in Ontario’s economic recovery.

OMSSA also appreciates the Minister of Education's recognition that early years and child care workers played a crucial role providing emergency child care during the pandemic for front-line and essentials workers.

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