Just 16% of children will have access to full-time care: report

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A report just accepted by Stratford city council at its meeting on Nov. 10 paints a dire picture of the area’s child-care services.

On average, only about 16 per cent of children up to the age of five have access to licenced, full-time childcare.

“Through the Ministry of Education’s Capital Priorities program, which supports the creation of licensed childcare spaces in conjunction with school infrastructure projects, 176 new full-day, year-round spaces are expected to be opened this year in Perth County,” a report from Mandy Koroniak, manager of children’s services, said. “These spaces resulted from successful applications made by school boards and endorsed by the City of Stratford … While progress towards equity of access to licensed childcare is being made, most families remain without access to a space.”

A subsequent correction noted that 88 of those spaces will not come online until a later date, though a new 98-space centre operated by a for-profit childcare operator will be opening next year.

The gap in coverage is not unique to Stratford and the county, nor to just the province. According to an October report from Stats Canada, 58 per cent of children up to the age of five were in childcare. About half of those parents reported difficulty finding that care, up slightly from the last time that metric was measured in 2023 (46 per cent).

Finding available care was the main challenge (65 per cent of parents), followed by finding affordable childcare (42 per cent of parents) and finding subsidized childcare (35 per cent of parents).

The Province of Ontario has set a provincial access rate target of 37 per cent by 2026, a target that is unlikely to be met, and even if it is a large portion of parents in the area will remain without access to care.

The average access rate in the region is about 16 per cent. Stratford is wedged in the middle of the pack with 15 per cent while West Perth leads the region with a 25 per cent access rate. North Perth and St. Marys both have a 17 per cent access rate and Perth East trails with only six per cent.

“The children’s services division continues to explore opportunities to create new licensed childcare spaces in collaboration with community-based childcare operators,” Koroniak’s report reads. “And advocate to the Province of Ontario on recognizing and addressing the unique needs related to the creation of new licensed childcare spaces in small urban and rural communities.”