St. Marys Child Care Centre staff reviewing Province’s new Child Care Agreement

The St. Marys Child Care Centre will run as usual until Council can review the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement.

On Monday, March 28, the Province reached an agreement with the federal government to provide $10-per-day childcare for children aged six and under by September 2025. The agreement includes additional pillars such as improving access to care, sustaining high-quality services and enhanced reporting.

Licensed childcare providers, including the municipally run St. Marys Child Care Centre, have until September 1, 2022, to accept or decline the CWELCC agreement. Town staff are currently reviewing options for the St. Marys Child Care Centre. They will present their first report about the agreement at the April 26 regular Council meeting.

Should Council eventually accept the CWELCC agreement, St. Marys Child Care Centre families of children aged six and younger would:

• Receive a 25% refund of fees paid after April 1, 2022
• Have total fees reduced by 50% by December 31, 2022

The St. Marys Centre is presently full. Caregivers can register their children for the Centre’s waitlist on the City of Stratford, St Marys and Perth County Child Care Registry Website (https://onehsn.com/stratford). About 200 families are currently on the waitlist.

The Town will post any updates on the St. Marys Child Care Centre webpage (townofstmarys.com/childcare).

Further details about the CWELCC agreement are also available on the Government of Ontario Newsroom website: https://news.ontario.ca

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For media inquiries:
Stacey Wheal, Corporate Communications Specialist
519-284-2340, ext. 429 | swheal@town.stmarys.on.ca