Child Care and Early Learning

The Children's Services and Early Years Department provides support to families in the City of Brantford and the County of Brant by offering a series of services including help finding quality child care, applying for child care subsidy to reduce costs, connecting families to free, quality drop-in programs and supporting children with special needs in licensed child care.

As the service system manager, the City of Brantford also supports individuals who operate Child Care Centres and Licensed Home Child Care providers, and EarlyON providers. We encourage you to explore the services outlined on this page and to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get real time updates about programming. We also invite you to 

Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement

Ontario has entered into a Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement that will lower fees to an average of $10.00 per day for children five years and younger in licensed child care by September 2025.

Licensed child care providers can choose to participate in the CWELCC to help reduce fees. If your licensed child care provider does not participate, your fees will not be reduced. Camps and Authorized Recreation programs are not eligible to participate in this program.

Access and Inclusion

In response to Ontario’s Access and Inclusion Framework 2023, the Inclusion and Access Pathway for Early Learning and Child Care Plan presents the outcomes of a comprehensive environmental scan conducted for the City of Brantford Children’s Services and Early Years, as the service system manager for child care and early learning for the City of Brantford and the County of Brant.

EarlyON Child and Family Programs

EarlyON Child and Family Programs are offered in accordance with provincial direction.

EarlyON services include in person indoor and outdoor Parent and Child programs, virtual Parent and Child programs, virtual Parent Chats, telephone and email support and EarlyON Videos on the EarlyON You Tube Channel. All programs will be posted on the EarlyON Calendar and on the EarlyOn Facebook page. 

Building Our Community from the Kids Up, Child Care and Early Years 10 Year Plan

The Child Care and Early Years Act, 2024 (CCEYA) requires service system managers to establish a child care and early years program and service plan for their service area that addresses matters of provincial interest under the Act.  

Service system planning provides us with an opportunity to explore and gather information about our community’s needs, analyze the impact or program and services, identify progress and service gaps and develop key areas for action.  

Locally, Building Our Community from the Kids Up: 10 Year Plan for Child Care and Early Years was developed in 2022 and is updated annually. The Child Care and Early Years 10 Year Plan outlines goals with 5 key areas: Accessibility, Affordability, Inclusivity, Quality and Accountability. Targets for child care and EarlyON programs have been set to meet the diverse needs of an increasing population, focusing on access to services, access to information, inclusion of all families and quality programming led by trained professionals.  

View the Building Our Community from the Kids Up 2024 Status Report.
View the Building Our Community from the Kids Up 2023 Status Report.