Overview
On March 28, 2022, the Province of Ontario entered into an agreement with the Government of Canada to deliver affordable, inclusive, and high-quality licensed child care for families in Ontario.
Funding under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement will be used to build and leverage the success of Ontario’s existing early learning and child care system by increasing quality, accessibility, affordability and inclusivity in early learning and child care, towards achieving the objectives of:
- Providing a 25% fee reduction for parents retroactive to April 1, 2022, building to a 50% reduction in average base fees (based on 2020 levels), and reaching an average parent fee of $10 a day by 2025-2026 for licensed child care spaces.
- Creating 86,000 new high quality, affordable licensed child care spaces (relative to 2019 levels), predominantly through non-profit licensed child care.
- Addressing barriers to provide inclusive child care.
- Valuing the early childhood workforce and providing them with training and development opportunities.
Enrolment in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System
If you are interested in opening a licensed child care centre or licensed home child care agency, you can request enrolment in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System.
The Province of Ontario has made regulatory amendments to O. Reg. 137/15 that now require new licensed programmes and/or new spaces for existing programmes to be consistent with the service system manager’s Directed Growth Plan to be permitted to enrol in CWELCC. Please carefully review this information.
Requesting Enrolment in CWELCC
Child Care Operators seeking enrolment in the CWELCC System in Wellington must submit a Directed Growth Application, which is reviewed by a panel.
The 2024 Directed Growth Application process is now closed and the Children’s Early Years Division is no longer accepting 2024 applications. A new application will be posted in 2025 for not-for-profit applicants only.
Child Care Auspice Information
As per Ministry of Education requirements, the County of Wellington must maintain the auspice target established by the Ministry regarding the proportion of for-profit and not-for profit new spaces created as part of the CWELCC allocation.
The County is not currently receiving applications for new for-profit child care centres seeking CWELCC enrollment. Please fill out the following form if you would like to join the distribution list for future application opportunities.
Join the CWELCC Distribution List
Wellington's CWELCC Resources
- Wellington Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Guidelines
- Wellington Directed Growth Plan
- CWELCC Start-Up Grants Information and Guidelines
- Guidelines for Preparing an Effective Business Plan
- Operating Budget Worksheet
- Wellington's CWELCC Funding Dispute Resolution Policy
The Guidelines for Preparing and Effective Business Plan and Operating Budget Worksheet are intended as supports in planning for the opening of your child care business.
Not-for-Profit Information
The following information is provided for New Not-for-Profit Child Care Corporations and provides information on Building a Not-for-Profit Board of Directors, Key Tasks for New Board of Directors, Conflict of Interest policy, and funding requirements.
Requirements for New Not-for-Profit Child Care Corporations
Other Resources
- Ministry of Education – Start a Child Care Program
- Ministry of Education – Canada-Ontario early years and child care agreement
Who to Contact:
Children’s Early Years
Email