CUPE Ontario supports fight to
save childcare centres

Across the province, several hundred child care centres could close within the next year because of funding shortfalls, potentially leaving nearly one-hundred communities without any regulated child care at all.

CUPE Ontario is calling on the province to work together to stabilize and strengthen our municipally delivered and community-based child care centres.

The McGuinty government should put Ontario's kids first. That means full public funding and  delivery of children's services. Right now Children's Aid Society and children's mental health programs aren't gettting the money they need to deliver legislated services.

Earlier this summer, the Ontario Liberal government announced its intention to undertake a three-year "modernization" initiative of the province's piecemeal child care system. While the government review is on-going, the Liberals have said that there will be no expansion of child care for three years while they conduct the review.

Access to child care affects many CUPE members. The Ontario Liberals' refusal to inject adequate funding to stabilize child care programs affected by the introduction of all-day kindergarten is resulting in a growing number of child care centre closures including, 12 regional centres in Peel, nine municipal centres in Windsor, one in Kenora, and a francophone centre, three municipal centres and three Family Day Care Services in Toronto.

Visit our Take Action section to write a response to the "Modernizing Child Care in Ontario" discussion paper and let the Education Minister know that you support investment in Child Care.  You can read the CUPE Ontario submission to the report here (English)    (French).

Headlines:

September 13, 2012: Peel council "heartless" vote to close 12 reginoal Child Care centres