Child-care challenge when it comes to access

Access to child-care centres for children five and younger has improved across most communities in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton since 2023, but a provincial use-it-or-lose-it funding deadline could jeopardize future expansion.

Alyson Truax, the city’s manager of human services, told council at the Feb. 10 committee of the whole meeting that the region is on track to reach a 30-per-cent child-care access rate by the end of 2026, up from 23 per cent in 2023. This forecast still falls short of the 37-per-cent target set by the province.

However, projects underway that are not fully operational by Dec. 31 risk having their funding rescinded by the Ministry of Education, Truax explained during the child-care expansion and directed growth plan update she delivered to council.

Policy dictates that even if a project is nearly finished, funding will be withdrawn if doors are not open by the deadline.

According to the report prepared for council, city staff requested extra funding from the ministry to support the new spaces. It adds, “however, there are significant financial risks for service providers beginning new expansion projects in 2026” due to the timeline restrictions.

At the March 21, 2023 regular meeting, council approved a new access and inclusion expansion plan designed to improve local child-care access.

The current road map outlines a strategy to create 448 licensed child-care spaces, including home- and centre-based settings, for children aged five and younger. With a target completion date of Dec. 31, 2026, the plan specifically highlights priority neighbourhoods to ensure the expansion reaches the families who need it most.

Since 2023, there have been 146 child-care spaces created, with an additional 196 spaces in progress and another 67 currently proposed in Lindsay and Bethany.

“To complete projects for this year is really tightening things down in our ability to be innovative and creative, and those proposed projects that we have in the pipeline just are stuck, and so that is stopping us from achieving those goals when we have potential solutions,” Truax told council.

Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Tracy Richardson voiced frustration with what she described as unrealistic timelines and a lack of support from the province.

“It’s making it very hard for a municipality to strategically move forward when you’re handcuffed, and they need to think better by not providing these short timelines,” Richardson said.

“It’s comprehensively mind-boggling that we’re asked to make these types of commitments (by the ministry), but they’re not providing the supports for us to move forward.”

Ward 7 Coun. Charlie McDonald asked Truax how council can help.

Truax said advocacy and keeping the conversation going with the ministry would aid the situation.

“It’s in your ward, it’s in your community where the need is, and so advocacy is a huge piece of making sure that the ministry is hearing us from all angles and at all tables; that it’s not just resting with staff teams and service managers to come up with those solutions,” she said.