Ontario child-care centre numbers allowed to increase starting Monday

The number of kids in child-care centres is allowed to increase across Ontario Monday.

A maximum of 15 children, plus staff members, will be allowed in each so-called “cohort.”

The groups of kids must stay together throughout the program for at least seven days, and cannot mix with kids in different cohorts.

The number of people per room in a daycare had previously been limited to 10 in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

On Friday, CUPE called on the provincial government to do more to help child-care centres and parents.

In a news release, it says child care capacity in the province is not at 91 per cent, as Premier Doug Ford has said.

CUPE says only 41 per cent of centres have re-opened.

“Ford expects child care to just fix itself and refuses to address the massive funding shortfalls hindering the safe re-opening of child care,” says Carrie Lynn Poole-Cotnam, CUPE Social Services Chair.

“Parents are fearful that they’ll lose their jobs unless child care gets the support it desperately needs.”