300 new childcare subsidies in 2017 budget, Tory says

Mayor John Tory wants the city to fund hundreds of new subsidized child care spaces this year.

Speaking with the media at the opening of the Dane Daycare Centre in the Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West area Tuesday morning, Tory said he understands that outside of mortgage payments and rent, there’s no bigger monthly expense for Toronto families than childcare.

“Affordable, accessible childcare allows parents to go back to work, or to go to work, or to go to school, and to continue to provide for their families while their children, at the same time, most important of all, are safe,” he said.

Tory said in the 2017 operating budget the city will be funding 300 new child care subsidies. That represents an investment of $3-million.

“These spots, these 300 subsidies, will be 100 per cent city funded,” Tory explained. “This will bring Toronto’s total number of subsidies to 26,359 and by adding these subsidies we are improving access to childcare for the parents who need it the most.”

But, with more than 17,500 Toronto families on a subsidized daycare waiting list, the mayor admitted there’s a long way to go.

“Eliminating the backlog and providing properly for the childcare for those who need it, is going to have to be a shared responsibility going forward, of all three governments,” he explained.

These new subsidies will form part of the budget that will be recommended to city council.