EXCERPTS
Ontario has posted regulations to ban daycare wait-list fees in licensed centres and homes by Sept. 1.
Under the proposed new rules, licensed child-care centres and home daycare agencies would be required to develop a public wait-list policy that sets out the order in which children on the list are offered admission.
And parents would be able to monitor their wait-list status in a way that ensures confidentiality.
The ban is being introduced less than three months after the Star reported on a petition to end the practice launched by two Toronto lawyers decrying wait-list fees up to $200 in a city where spots are available for just over one in five children.
“I can assure you that I share parents’ concerns over wait-list fees,” Education Minister Liz Sandals said in a statement Tuesday. “We are listening to families across Ontario and have heard their frustration about having to pay fees to simply be on a waiting list for child care.”
The public has until July 4 to comment on the proposals.
Find the regulatory registry regarding child care wait list fees here.
-reprinted from Toronto Star