TORONTO — Education Minister Paul Calandra and federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu announced Tuesday a four-year extension of the Canada–Ontario child-care agreement, with nearly $12 billion in federal funding through 2031. Average parent fees will stay at $19 a day, capped at $22, until June 30, 2027. Ontario’s target of 86,000 new spaces is pushed from December 31, 2026 to March 31, 2027.The ministers spoke at the YMCA Child Care Centre at the David Braley Vaughan Centre on Apple Mill Rd. Hajdu said the $12 billion is on top of $13.8 billion already allocated to Ontario for 2021-22 through 2026-27. A separate federal envelope of up to $5.4 billion over two years starting in 2026-27 is still under discussion with Queen’s Park.Calandra said Hajdu “recognized that there was a bit of a gap — funding gap — with respect to Ontario” and “did have to go back, fight hard” for extra money. He called the deal short- and medium-term fee stability. What happens to fees after June 30, 2027 was not set.Asked whether Ontario will reach the original $10-a-day average, Hajdu did not give a deadline. She said the four-year pact is about “stabilizing,” that Ontario parents talk more about spots than the $10 target, and that the national program has now reached $70 billion in federal spending since it began. She said the deal saves Ontario families an average of $9,000 per child.Calandra said $19 a day is “massive relief” compared with fees from years ago, and that parents had asked him in grocery aisles to lock the rate. “It doesn’t mean the work is done,” he said..Ontario is short of the 86,000-space target with three months left on the old deadline. Calandra blamed school-construction delays, including a 78-space YMCA planned for Parry Sound, and said the new March 31, 2027 date gives “flexibility.” “If we don’t hit them, we’ll get very, very close,” he said.On wages, Hajdu pointed to a coming federal care-sector alliance. Calandra made no commitment to raise Ontario’s wage floor. He said the near-term job is staffing the spaces already allocated, and that worker shortages also hit schools, hospitals and long-term care.Asked about a Financial Accountability Office estimate that 220,000 more spaces would be needed to meet demand, Calandra did not accept or reject the figure. He said today’s announcement was about stability, not “solving all of the problems in child care.”
