Earlier this week, a letter from the Ontario education minister was sent home to families with children in daycare that sparked concern and confusion.
CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca obtained a copy of the letter by Paul Calandra that was sent out Tuesday, six days before the federal election.
“As you may be aware, the current term of the federal childcare initiative is coming to an end on March 31, 2026,” the letter reads.
“Ontario has informed the federal government that we would like to see an extension of the program that would allow the province to succeed in achieving $10/day childcare beyond March 31, 2026. Ontario has indicated that we remain committed to our share of the funding to assure we can make this happen.”
Calandra says the federal government hasn’t indicated its willingness to fully fund its portion of the agreement.
“At this point, the federal government has not indicated its willingness to fully fund its portion to deliver on its promise of $10/day child care in Ontario,” he said in the letter.
He said families around the province could see fees rise above $22/day staring April 1, 2026, and further after.
However, Sudbury Liberal incumbent Viviane Lapointe said that is not entirely true.
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“There’s two things that are really important for concerned parents to know and to understand,” Lapointe told CTV News in an interview.
“First, is that earlier this year, the federal government announced a five-year extension to the $10/day childcare. So, the intent of the five-year extension means that we will increase funding by three per cent each and every year. And we already have 11 provinces that have signed off.”
Ontario is one of the 11 out of 13 provinces/territories that have reached an agreement to extend the federal funding.
The Government of Canada announced March 6 that Ontario will be getting $16.77 billion in funding between 2026 and 2031.
“The extended agreements provide up to an additional $36.8 billion over five years (2026–27 to 2030–31) and include a three per cent funding increase every year for four years, starting in 2027-2028,” the federal government said.
“Building on significant progress to date, these extended agreements will support continued access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and childcare programs and services, ensuring that families will continue to have access to regulated childcare for an average of $10-a-day after March 31, 2026. The three per cent funding escalator ensures that the early learning and childcare system will remain sustainable over the duration of the agreements, while also providing flexibility for provinces and territories to respond to inflationary pressures.”
Lapointe said this commitment will guarantee the daycare subsidies will continue for the next five years.
“I can also tell you that in the Liberal Mark Carney platform, we’ve committed to not only protecting but also, this will strengthen the $10/day child care, because what we realize is we need to create more spaces and that’s where the additional funding, that 3 per cent year over year to provinces will allow us to increase the number of spots.”
Dispelling myths
When Sudbury federal Conservative candidate Ian Symington was asked how his party would address parents’ concerns about this issue, he said Pierre Poilievre has committed to maintaining current agreements.
“First of all, let me debunk a few myths out there and say that Pierre Poilievre has publicly stated a Conservative government will not be cutting childcare and will not be cutting dental care,” Symington told CTV News in an interview.
“Secondly, what we’ve seen in the last five years … is a Liberal government that loves to announce funding, loves to pay high paid consultants to come up with plans and really hasn’t delivered the services that they promised to Canadians in regards to childcare.”
He said he’s seen parents who have struggled to find childcare spaces.
“I don’t think I’ve seen any evidence that anyone’s actually getting $10 a day daycare yet in Ontario,” Symington said.
“We’ve seen providers that have had to close businesses due to regulations and restrictions and, really, I don’t think the province is going to be able to implement it because it’s not working. It’s no surprise that the funding looks like it’s coming to an end.”
The local doctor turned candidate said if the Conservatives were elected to form the next federal government, they would work with parents, early childhood educators, providers and provinces to ensure Canadians get the services they’re promised.
‘Province right to raise the red flag’
Sudbury federal NDP candidate Nadia Verrelli said affordable childcare has been part of her party’s platform for the past 20 years.
“The Liberals finally put it in place on our urging,” she told CTV News in an interview.
“We also know, depending on how this election comes out, definitely there are … red flags and the provinces are right to raise the red flag.”
Verrelli said the New Democrats will ensure $10/day daycare continues to be accessible for Canadian families if elected.
“What we’re looking at is with all of our social services, that include dental care, pharmacare, and now, childcare, we will continue to fund these services. We know that families need them. We know affordability is an issue and this is one way to ensure that that life remains affordable. We are fully committed to $10 a day daycare.”
CTV News reached out to Ontario Ministry of Education for comment, but as of publication have not received a reply.
