Ontario expands access to emergency child care as schools remain closed
The Ontario government is expanding the eligibility for emergency child care in a bid to help parents working in critical sectors while the province's schools remain closed to in-person learning.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement at Queen's Park Saturday morning, saying the government decided to expand the program after it pushed back the date elementary students are expected to return to classrooms.
We recognize as this elementary school closure is extended, more people, more emergency and front-line workers will need support in this province," he said.
Expanding this will allow us to responsibly build up and enable more workers to receive free child care during this difficult time, while these individuals have to physically ... go into work."
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the province, on Thursday the government delayed the target date by which elementary students in southern Ontario will return to in-class learning to at least Jan. 25. Students from kindergarten to Grade 8 had been slated to physically return to schools Jan. 11. The target date for secondary students to return is also Jan. 25.
While in-class learning is suspended, the province has prohibited licensed child care centres from serving school-aged children. But it offered free emergency child care to parents working in essential sectors who may not be able to support their kids' remote learning, including health care professionals, police officers, firefighters and long-term care staff.
Saturday's announcement extends eligibility to more groups, including parents working in Children's Aid Societies and residential services, homeless services, hotels and motels acting as isolation centres or vaccination clinics, and education workers required for in-class instruction for students with special education needs.
Lecce said that so far 2,200 emergency child care spaces have been used, and the province has a capacity of about 28,000.
New modelling that provincial officials have warned paints a dire picture of the coronavirus second wave in Ontario is expected Monday. Asked whether students will be able to return to in-person learning at the end of the month, Lecce offered no guarantees.
COVID obviously throws a lot of curveballs, and there's no absolutes," he said, adding that the government will not and we should not compromise the safety of kids."
According to the province, the COVID-19 positivity rate for children aged 12 and 13 increased from 5.44 per cent in late November and early December to nearly 20 per cent in early January.
The NDP slammed the Progressive Conservative government for not doing enough to ensure students can safely get back to school as soon as possible.
It's desperately frustrating for parents that Stephen Lecce got in front of the cameras, and didn't announce a single measure to make schools safe to reopen. This government doesn't want to invest in schools, and that's putting our kids health and their education at risk," said education critic Marit Stiles (Davenport) and child care critic Doly Begum (Scarborough Southwest) in a joint statement Saturday.
The NDP is calling on the government to implement an effective in-school asymptomatic testing program, cap class sizes at 15 students, make urgent ventilation improvements to school buildings, and offer paid sick and family-care leave for all parents so they can afford to stay home with their children if they think they may be sick, instead of sending them to class or child care.
Lecce announced Friday the province plans to expand its school asymptomatic testing program. The Ontario government is providing $380 million for schools to fight COVID-19 by upgrading their ventilation systems, hiring more custodians, and purchasing personal protective equipment.
Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation for the Star. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr