Ontario expands emergency child care

Ford government won’t commit to timeline for reopening all centres

TORONTO—Ontario expanded emergency child care to more people Wednesday, but while the province also saw its lowest growth rate of new COVID-19 cases in weeks, the government wouldn’t say when all centres might reopen.

Under the province’s reopening framework, the chief medical officer is looking for a consistent, two-to-four-week decrease in the number of new cases before advising moving to the first stage.

Premier Doug Ford said the numbers are looking good, as four out of the past five days have seen growth in new cases decline.

“This is a positive trend, a positive trend to give people hope that we’re getting close to opening up,” he said.

“I can’t give you dates right now, but what I can give you is hope that we’re getting closer.”

Reopening child-care centres is key to restarting the economy, Education Minister Stephen Lecce acknowledged, but he wants to do so safely.

“The government fully understands and recognizes that child care is often a prerequisite for labour market participation,” Lecce said.

“We get that and we will be able to report more on the details of each of those stages in the coming days.”

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said that child-care providers are facing permanent closure during the pandemic as they still have fixed costs to pay and may not be eligible for existing government programs.

“The province should step in with stabilization funding so that child-care programs are ready with open doors when the province reopens,” he said in a statement.

Lecce wouldn’t commit to a timeline to reopen all centres, which are closed until at least May 6 under the emergency order that can only be extended for two weeks at a time.

For now, emergency child care is expanding to parents who work in retirement homes, grocery stores and pharmacies, truck drivers, workers in the food supply chain, as well as Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence staff in the province.

The province ordered childcare centres closed in March, under one of several emergency orders, but reopened some to accommodate children of front-line health-care and emergency services personnel.

Wednesday’s announcement marked the second expansion of emergency child care, and will mean another 37 centres open in addition to the nearly 100 others in operation.

Meanwhile, one of the emergency child-care centres in Toronto has closed for two weeks after four staff members and one child tested positive for COVID-19.

Ford said in light of that, he wants every emergency childcare worker tested. They are not yet included in provincial guidelines for testing, beyond those who are showing symptoms, but the premier’s office said Ford has asked officials to develop a plan.