Ontario opens door to more public funds for `big box´ child care
(The Star Food)

The Ontario government has changed the rules to give profit-making, “big box� daycare operators more access to public funds, raising concerns among advocates that quality will suffer.NDP child care critic Doly Begum raised the issue in the legislature on Wednesday, saying studies show non-profit daycare “offers higher standards of care and better wages for workers. This is why child-care advocates have urged the province to expand not-for-profit, child-care spaces. “We know the biggest issue in the child-care sector is the lack of affordable, high-quality, safe child-care spaces,� said the Scarborough Southwest MPP. “By removing the for-profit threshold, this government is opening the doors to large-chain providers.�Begum also said the government’s move to cut $23 million in subsidies for low-income families is “making child care less affordable for those who need it.�The previous Liberal government had planned to spend more than $3.5 billion over five years to create 100,000 new spots in licensed child care. At that time, advocates successfully lobbied for rules that would limit the amount of funds available to for-profit daycares — including those run by so-called “big-box� child-care businesses.Read more:Child care shortage puts parents on edge Lack of licensed care creates daycare ‘deserts’ across CanadaWorried parents and child care advocates ask ‘what now?’ in wake of PC winBut in August, the new Progressive Conservative government quietly removed that cap, known as the “for-profit threshold.�Decades of research has found that non-profit or public child care is typically of higher quality than corporate-run centres — largely because the focus on profits impacts levels of care, staffing and standards.Currently, about one-quarter of licenced child-care spots in Ontario are in the for-profit sector.On Wednesday, Education Minister Lisa Thomp ...