Child Care Owners Urge Province to Act on Drummond Report

February 16, 2012

ONTARIO -- Child care owners across Ontario are urging the McGuinty government to take action on the Drummond Report's recommendations regarding the Province's Full-Day Kindergarten Program. In its report earlier this week, the Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services recommended that the Full-Day Kindergarten Program be cancelled outright, or that its full implementation be delayed until 2017/2018, with class sizes increased and a more affordable staffing model adopted.

"Across Ontario, both child care owner/operators and municipalities are struggling with the design of the Government's Full-Day Kindergarten Program and its rapid roll-out," says Greg Humphreys, government relations committee chair for the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario (ADCO). "We're seeing more and more small, independent licensed child care centres being forced to consider selling their facilities to larger companies or risk closing their doors altogether. Some of these centres have been serving their neighbourhoods for many generations and even employ staff who attended them as children."

"In areas where the Full-Day Kindergarten Program is has already been implemented, many licensed child centres have had to raise the fees they charge for children in younger age groups as a means of offsetting the sudden removal of such a large portion of their client base from their care. This means fewer licensed child care choices for parents rather than more," says Humphreys. "In light of the Drummond Report recommendations, it would make sense for the Province to slow down the implementation of the Full-Day Kindergarten Program and keep working with the independent licensed child care sector-- both private and non-profit--to find more affordable solutions that work for families."

The Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario is comprised of the owner/operators of independent licensed child care centres across the province. Some of its member centres are operated as small businesses, and some as community-based not-for-profit corporations. It is estimated that independent licensed child care centres account for over half of all of the licensed child care spaces in Ontario.


For more information contact:
Greg Humphreys
Chair, Gov't. Relations Committee
Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario
Phone: 1-800-567-7075
Email: gregh@alphachildcare.ca
Website: www.adco-o.on.ca

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Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario (ADCO)

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