Building Our Community from the Kids Up status report demonstrates enhanced support

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ECE teacher and children

Brantford-Brant, ON – At their Social Services Committee meeting held April 10th, members of the Committee received a progress update from Children’s Services and Early Years staff regarding progress made in implementation of the Building Our Community from the Kids Up: 10 Year Plan for Child Care and Early Learning, that focuses on enhancing childcare support for families in Brantford-Brant.

Approved in January 2022, the comprehensive plan has seen 45 actions initiated to enhance child care and EarlyON programs in our communities. The following are among the notable accomplishments and achievements in the past year:

  • Increase to 4,506 Child Care Spaces (ages 0-12) in Brantford-Brant
  • EarlyON program attendance returning to nearly pre-COVID levels with over 25,000 child visits
  • Launch of Indigenous-led EarlyON programming at sport and recreation centres
  • Development of an “Access and Inclusion Framework” for child care and early learning
  • Launch of the Mental Health Capacity Building Project
  • Launch of the EarlyON at TF Warren Community Centre in Cainsville

Additionally, the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Program, commonly referred to as $10/day child care will be fully implemented by Fall 2025, benefitting approximately 2,500 children locally, and has already achieved significant milestones including:

  • Parent fees have been reduced by approximately $6,000 per year / per child since 2022
  • 96 new Child Care spaces for children 0-5 have been opened to date with an additional 232 spaces expected by early 2025 and further growth totaling 985 spaces by the end of 2026.
  • Wages for Early Childhood Educators continue to increase with a 2024 wage floor of $23.86 / hour
  • Access to the Early Childhood Education Qualifications Upgrade Program (ECE QUP) that supports individuals working within the early years sector who have been accepted to an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology program to pursue their Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma

"The City and County are experiencing exciting growth, attracting many young families. Free, accessible, drop-in early learning programs are vital to supporting our children and families, alongside quality licensed childcare which is essential for the health of our workforce and economy,” said Social Services Committee Chair Councillor John Bell. “It’s encouraging to see the work being done with childcare partners, school boards, and the Ministry of Education to secure additional resources and expand these programs to better meet the needs of families in our communities.” 

Parents and caregivers should be aware that as child care fees have been reduced, the demand for spaces has increased faster than new spaces are opening, resulting in an increased number of children on the child care waitlist. Parents are encouraged to apply to the OneList Child Care Waitlist as early as possible to have the best chance to have a space for their preferred start date. The 985 new spaces are projected to result in 1 licensed child space for every three children aged 0-5 by the end of 2026. 

For more information, please visit brantford.ca/childrensservices.

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Media Contact:

Maria Visocchi | Director, Communications and Community Engagement
City of Brantford | 519-759-4150 ext. 5754 | mvisocchi@brantford.ca 

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