Ontario to provide free emergency child care for doctors, other frontline workers

Starting next Monday, the Ford government says frontline workers will have access to free emergency child care for their school-aged children.

The announcement coincides with the province’s decision to close schools to in-person learning and move to teacher-led remote learning when students return from their break on April 19th.

During the remote learning period, emergency child care will be provided at no cost to school-aged children of eligible health care and other frontline workers, including but not limited to doctors, nurses, health care providers, and those who work in long-term care and retirement homes.

List of those that qualify for emergency child care:

• Individuals who manufacture or distribute medical/pharmaceutical supplies
• Individuals performing work in relation to the administration, distribution, or manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines
• Child care workers, including those staffing the emergency child care programs
• Grocery store and pharmacy workers
• Public safety (police, fire, paramedics, provincial inspection/enforcement), justice/court, and correctional system workers
• Frontline staff in Children’s Aid Societies and residential services
• Individuals working in developmental services, violence against women services, victims’ services, anti-human trafficking, and those engaged in interpreting or intervenor services for persons who are deaf or deaf-blind
• Individuals working in a homeless shelter or providing services to homeless persons
• Food safety inspectors and individuals working in the processing, manufacturing, or distribution of food and beverages
• OPS staff employed in Radiation Protection Services
• OPS staff performing critical tasks related to environmental monitoring, reporting, and laboratory services
• Certain federal employees, including RCMP, Canada Border Services, Canadian Armed Forces, and Canada Post
• Power workers
• Non-municipal water and wastewater workers
• Workers involved in the collecting, transporting, storing, processing, disposing, or recycling of any type of waste.
• Education staff who are required to attend schools to provide in-person instruction and support to students with special education needs who cannot be accommodated through remote learning
• Employees of a hotel or motel that is acting as an isolation centre, health care centre, vaccine clinic, or housing essential workers.
• Truck drivers and transit workers
• Construction workers
• Any individual whose child was registered in an emergency child care program delivered by a Consolidated Municipal Service Manager or District Social Service Administration Board during the time period beginning on April 6 and ending on April 16.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the Ford government wants to recognize these frontline workers as they “continue to work around the clock in our fight against COVID-19.”

“Doing so will allow these frontline workers to perform their duties knowing that their children are safe and in good hands,” he said.

Child care workers, including Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs), are eligible to be vaccinated as part of Phase 2 of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Earlier this week Premier Doug Ford said data will be assessed on an ongoing basis and health officials will be consulted to determine when it will be safe to resume in-person learning.

Lecce said Monday that while it is the government’s priority to keep students and the education system safe, he is becoming more concerned about the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.

“Despite these efforts, we recognize the threat posed by rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, increase in hospitalization, and the pressure our healthcare system experiencing as a result,” said Ontario’s Education Minister.

“This worrying trend will leave us in an impossible situation if we do not act immediately.”

Ford is reportedly meeting with cabinet Thursday to discuss the possibility of stricter COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures.