Premier Ford,

With news that the Government of Canada has invited provinces and territories to sign 5-year extensions to the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) funding agreements, we are writing to urge you to sign on immediately to secure continued federal child care funding for Ontario’s $10aDay plan. 

These offers to extend federal funding are welcomed, as communities, provinces and territories, and advocates have been asking for ongoing funding stability. 

The $10aDay child care plan has been a game changer for Ontario children and families, and research shows it is already making a difference for our economy. At a time of economic uncertainty, the continuation of the $10aDay plan will provide much needed stability to Ontario families, to the child care sector, and to our local economies. 

Premier, as you said back in 2022 when you signed the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, “I’m so proud of the work we’ve done with our federal partners to land an agreement that will lower costs for families across the province. Given how complex Ontario’s child care system is, we wanted to get this right. Today, we’re delivering a deal that will keep money in the pockets of hard-working parents.”

Since signing on in 2022, the Ontario child care community - including child care operators, frontline Early Childhood Educators and child care workers, collaborating with their local municipalities and with your government - has worked flat out to make this plan a success. Having capped child care fees at $22 a day this year, and implemented the province’s new cost-based funding formula, we are in the midst of transformational change. 

But we need stability, so that we can keep working towards making $10aDay child care a reality for all families across the province.

Joining other provinces and territories in signing on to an additional five years of federal child care funding is a simple way that you can protect Ontario families, and give the Ontario child care sector the support it needs to continue to expand and strengthen to offer better care in more Ontario communities.

With political uncertainty at the federal level and economic uncertainty from the US, we feel this is a matter of great urgency. We ask that you please make signing this child care funding agreement extension a priority matter to help protect and secure this funding for Ontario families. 

Thank you.