A FUTURE FOR CHILDCARE; SUPPORTING WORKERS
TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO:
WHEREAS Child care centres province-wide are forced to close rooms and limit enrolment due to staffing shortages and retention challenges, aggravating the growing disparity between demand and availability of child care spaces, particularly in underserved areas referred to as “child care deserts”; and,
WHEREAS Child care experts and advocates estimate Ontario may need as many as 65,000 new child careworkers to meet the expected demand for $10/day child care; and,
WHEREAS Without proper Chid care operating funding and a strategy to recruit and retain child care workers through setting a salary scale, increasing wages, and implementing decent work standards, parents will lose access to affordable child care; and,
WHEREAS Early years and Child care system has been underfunded, and workers have long been overlooked in child care policy-making discussions; and,
WHEREAS The vitally important work of Early Years and Child Care workers has been historically undervalued, with low pay, poor working conditions, and high turnover;
THEREFORE, WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately establish an Early Years and Child Care Worker Advisory Commission to develop recommendations on how to support the Early Years and Child Care workforce and address staffing shortages, including through a salary scale, increased compensation and improved working conditions.