Below are some commonly asked questions about the OCBCC:

Q: What is the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care?

A: The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC), founded in 1981, advocates for affordable, accessible, and high quality child care in Ontario.

We are a non-partisan public awareness and advocacy group with broad membership including the education, labour, student, women’s, and francophone communities. The OCBCC works in advocacy at all levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipal). We work with national partners to ensure the Federal government is involved in funding Early Learning and Care programs. At a provincial level, we work with the government and opposition parties, lobbying for policy and funding.

Q: What do you receive as a member of the OCBCC?

A: Membership means that you are part of an organization advocating for high quality, accessible, and affordable child care. Better wages and working conditions for child care staff, adequate funding for service and effective public policy are the mainstays of our work.

Membership helps you join our collective voice to benefit the child care community and all children and families in the province.

In addition to providing the tools to help you advocate for child care in your community and participate with us in federal, provincial and local campaigns, membership brings you:

• child care news through our email blasts
• discounted fees on workshops, conferences and publications
• membership with Child Care Now

Join us and become a member! Click here for more information.

Q: How does the OCBCC support RECE’s?

A: The OCBCC advocates for better wages and working conditions for RECE’s and all child care workers as well as a National or Provincial Child Care System funded by the government which would benefit all those who work in the child care sector. To learn more about our current campaigns click here.

We also support RECE’s with various kits & materials to assist in participating in municipal, provincial, and federal elections.

The OCBCC organizes Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day annually every October. This is a day on which child care employers, boards, parents, and community members and politicians can show those who work in child care how much they are appreciated and valued.  We also ask all of the municipalities in Ontario to pass a resolution declaring the day “Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day” throughout their municipality.

Q: Who funds child care?

A: Child care depends on parent fees. Without subsidy, parents pay 100% of the cost of child care. Child care can easily cost $100 a day - over $25,000 a year. Many families need help paying for child care so they apply for a child care subsidy – but there are often waiting lists for a subsidy as well. As fees go up and fewer parents can afford to pay the full fees, the subsidy system becomes overburdened. Child care cannot continue to depend on full fee paying parents and limited subsidies.

Q: What are the problems with jobs in child care?

A: Low wages and not enough opportunity for advancement. Though there are some good paying jobs in child care, many early childhood educators are underpaid and undervalued – with the average wage standing at about $16 an hour. That is not enough to live on. Early Childhood Educators are specialists in early learning and child development, with at least two years of training specific to early childhood education and care.

We need to ensure that we can pay our qualified early childhood educators a decent wage so that they can work in the field they were trained for and love, and still be able to provide a decent income for their families.

Q: What are some impacts of the lack of child care funding?

A: The ripple effect of insufficient funding could lead to a catastrophic collapse for our child care system and impact families, child care centres, staff, and communities.

• Thousands of low and middle income families will lose access to safe, quality care for their children.
• Parents may have to leave their jobs or postpone going back to school.
• Without increased funding, fees will undoubtedly go up. Parents cannot afford higher fees— Ontario's are already the highest in the country.
• We already don’t have enough child care spaces in Ontario. Only 20% of children under the age of 13 have access to a full or part-time licensed child care space.

For perspective: some families wait years for subsidized child care. Furthermore, many families cannot afford the high cost of care even if they were to receive a licensed space.

Child Care Centres:

Child care centres can join our vision for accessible, affordable, and high-quality child care.

Join us in our advocacy. Click here for membership information with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

Thinking of starting a child care centre or looking for information on licensing requirements? Click here for more resources.