What the federal child-care deal means for Ontarians

The Ontario government has signed off on a child-care deal with the federal government, marking the last province in Canada to do so.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday during a news conference in Brampton.

The province-wide deal would be rolled out over multiple years and will eventually result in families having access to $10 a day child care by 2025.

CTV News Toronto has compiled a list answering some of the most pressing questions on people’s minds following the unprecedented announcement.

How much reduction can families expect?

The first step in the agreement will see fees dropped by 25 per cent to a minimum of $12 a day over the coming weeks for all Ontario families with children under the age of five enrolled in participating licensed child-care centres, retroactive to April 1, 2022.

The fee cuts would amount to an average savings per child of about $6,000 a year by the end of 2022.

Officials said that parents would see another cut in December, which would result in an average of 50 per cent reductions in child-care costs by the end of the year.

The province added that fees will drop again in September 2024, and will land at $10 a day for child care by September 2025.

Who qualifies for the program?

The program will be available for parents with children five years old and under who are enrolled in licensed child-care centres.

What will this mean for child-care centres?

The government announced on Monday that the deal would see the creation of 86,000 child-care spaces, 15,000 of which have already been in place since 2019.

The new spaces will be a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit, the government said.

Officials said the province is now working to enrol 5,000 licensed child-care centres and home child-care agencies into the program between now and Sept. 1.

Parents will begin to get their rebates in May once licensed centres and agencies have enrolled in the new system. The province will provide refunds retroactive to April 1.

-- With files from The Canadian Press