Ontario ‘prepared to act’ on daycare fees

Parents say up to one-half of daycares have wait-list costs

In the wake of parent anger over having to pay non-refundable fees to put their names on daycare wait lists, Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals says she is prepared to act.

“I share parents’ concern over fees,” she said in a statement late Friday. “We are always listening to parents from across the province and will be looking into how we can regulate or prohibit child-care wait-list fees.”

As reported in the Star, the scarcity of Ontario licensed child care — in Toronto there are spaces for fewer than one in four children — means parents are forced to put their names on multiple wait lists, where fees can range from $10 to more than $100.

Although there has been no research on the prevalence of wait-list fees, Toronto-area parents say onethird to one-half of daycares charge them.

Toronto City Council voted last summer to ban the practice starting in January 2017. But Toronto mother and lawyer Nadine Blum, who paid a total of $150 in fees to put her name on between 20 to 30 wait lists, wants them gone province-wide.

She and colleague Kelly Doctor, lawyers with Goldblatt LLP, have started a petition to ban non-refundable wait-list fees in Ontario.

“We’re pleased the minister is prepared to act,” Doctor said.

“But we don’t want to see any waitlist fees. Even charging a modest amount in combination with the scarcity of spots and the necessity to go on multiple wait lists, still results in an undue burden on parents.”

The lawyers also want the government to address the issue of wait list transparency and how they are administered.