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Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) System

Breadcrumbs
 

Learn about enrolment and participation in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system.


Background

On , the Federal and Provincial Governments announced a funding agreement that will reduce the cost of child care in Ontario to an average of $10 per day by . The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement includes $13.2 billion for Ontario over six years. This agreement will:

  • Require participating licensed child care centres and licensed home child care agencies to reduce parent/caregiver fees to a maximum of $22 per day. By March 2026, licensed child care fees will be lowered to an average of $10 per day.
  • Set a minimum wage floor in 2025 of $24.86/hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECE) program staff and $25.86 /hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECE) supervisors and home visitors, increasing $1 per hour each year until 2026, up to the wage eligibility ceiling for the year.
  • Create 86,000 licensed child care spaces in Ontario for children under the age of six by the end of 2026 to meet the growing demand for affordable child care.

Key Accomplishments

  • 84% of Halton’s licensed child care programs (child care centres and home child care agencies) are enrolled in CWELCC. There are 268 sites representing a total of 18,098 spaces that are part of CWELCC in Halton.
  • Effective January 1, 2025, fees have been capped at no more than $22 per day for children under age 6.
  • Parental contributions for families receiving fee subsidy for child care have also been reduced by 50%.
  • On August 15, 2024, the provincial government released a new CWELCC funding formula. Halton Region worked with child care operators to implement the new funding formula which came in effect on January 1, 2025.

Halton Region’s Role

Halton Region is the Service System Manager for early years and child care in legislation. In this capacity Halton Region plans, administers and funds early years and licensed child care programs to maintain affordable and high-quality care across the region. As the Service System Manager for Halton, the Region’s role is to implement the provincial guidelines.

Halton Region’s role in CWELCC  is to:

  • Implement provincial guidelines;
  • Develop and implement local policies, procedures and guidelines;
  • Develop and implement an application and approval process for CWELCC ;
  • Administer CWELCC  funding and enter into CWELCC Service Agreements;
  • Provide oversight and reconciliation of CWELCC funding; and
  • Report to the Ministry of Education and Halton Regional Council on CWELCC.

Directed Growth Plan

Halton’s Directed Growth Plan: An Appendix to the Early Learning and Child Care Service Plan (2024 – 2026)

As a condition of CWELCC participation, the Region is required to develop a Directed Growth Plan for Halton. This plan is legislated by the Province and is used to guide how and where new CWELCC spaces the Province allocates to the Region through to 2026.

Halton’s Directed Growth Plan: An Appendix to the Early Learning and Child Care Service Plan (“the Plan”) is a comprehensive plan that focuses on system priorities as identified through consultation with local educators, service providers, parents and caregivers, children, community partners and Regional staff. The Region used provincial guidelines, the Provincial Access and Inclusion Framework (external PDF), and the 2022-2025 Early Learning and Child Care Plan to inform the directed growth plan.

The purpose of the Plan is to provide information to operators of licensed child care centres and licensed home child care agencies regarding the CWELCC System for the period of 2024-2026. The Plan includes priorities for enrollment and expansion of affordable child care spaces in CWELCC and identifies underserved priority neighbourhoods based on local priorities and the priority populations established by the Province including: children living in low income families, children from diverse communities, children with special needs, Francophone children and Indigenous children.

The Region recognizes that many areas of Halton have equity, diversity and inclusion needs. As such, a consultative, data driven, and equity focused approach was used to determine the Region’s priority neighbourhoods.

Read Halton’s Directed Growth Plan: An Appendix to the Early Learning and Child Care Service Plan (2024 – 2026) (PDF file)

CWELCC Directed Growth Map

The map below profiles all 30 Halton neighbourhoods with their level of priority. Child care operators are encouraged to refer to the map when developing their applications for CWELCC enrollment or expansion.

Local child care providers will be updated as new CWELCC-funded child care spaces become available.


 CWELCC Growth and Participation

The Ministry of Education provided Halton Region with a directed growth plan, which outlines the number of community-based and school-based child care spaces Halton is permitted to add in CWELCC, up to 2026.

Spaces Total spaces
School-based Spaces 194 176 264 634
Community Spaces 0 0 347 347
Total 194 176 611 981

Community-based spaces accounts for spaces located outside of schools and includes before and after kindergarten spaces offered by new school projects.

School-based spaces are full day child care spaces located in schools and are determined directly by the Ministry of Education. These are child care construction projects which are already planned and underway.


CWELCC Application Decisions

Halton’s CWELCC Application process is closed. New applications are notbeing accepted at this time.

All available CWELCC spaces in Halton have been allocated.

The Region accepted applications for CWELCC enrollment and expansion

for a limited time between December 19, 2024, and January 31, 2025. Applications submitted prior to the submission deadline of January 31, 2025 have now been reviewed and all applicants have been informed of decisions.

 

The Region will keep applications that were not approved on file in the event the Provincial Government allocates more spaces to Halton prior to the end of 2026.

The number of $10 a day child care spaces allocated to Halton Region from the Provincial Government remains insufficient to meet growing community need. No new CWELCC spaces have been committed in Halton beyond 2026 at this time. Halton Region has and continues to advocate to the Federal and Provincial governments for more CWELCC funding so more Halton families can receive affordable child care.


Child Care Operators Participating in CWELCC: Licence Revisions

As part of the Ministry of Education’s licensing process, CWELCC-enrolled operators seeking a licence revision must submit a request in the Ministry’s Child Care Licensing System (CCLS) and seek service system manager advice for any of the following changes:

  • Licensed capacity
  • Age group served
  • Program hours (e.g. increasing a program from less than six hours to more than six hours)
  • Increase the number of approved contracted homes for licensed home child care agencies

If your licence revision seeks to add spaces and/or requires additional funding (e.g., adding a new toddler room), the Region will not be able to confirm CWELCC  funding eligibility for the revision at this time.

Applicants are encouraged to contact their Ministry Program Advisor regarding any questions about license revisions.


Applicants: New Licence Applications

As part of the Ministry of Education’s licensing process, applicants are required to indicate in CCLS whether they intend to enroll in CWELCC.

If your application has not been pre-approved by Halton Region for expansion as part of the 2025-2026 Application Process, it will not be approved for CWELCC funding in CCLS. Licensees that are not approved to enroll in CWELCC can still proceed with their licence application with the Ministry. To proceed with the application, applicants will need to update the application to indicate that they are not intending to apply for CWELCC funding in CCLS. Licensees are encouraged to contact their Ministry Program Advisor regarding any questions about new licence applications.

Cost-Based Funding

In 2025, child care operators enrolled in CWELCC will be funded based on eligible costs incurred in the calendar year in respect of eligible centres/agencies, up to a maximum amount of funding determined by the new Cost-Based funding formula.

CWELCC Cost-Based Funding intends to:

  • More accurately reflect the true cost of providing licensed childcare in Ontario.
  • Replace the revenue replacement model, which replaced lost revenue due to fee caps.
  • Support wage enhancements.
  • Improve access to high-quality and affordable child care by supporting growth spaces.

For more information on the cost-based funding approach, visit Supporting Child Care in Ontario (external link).

For an estimate of cost-based funding, please visit the CWELCC Cost-Based Child Care Funding Estimator (external link). Operators are also encouraged to explore the resources section below, which includes recordings of past webinars hosted by Halton Region.


Workforce Compensation

Child care operators enrolled in the CWELCC may be eligible for workforce compensation funding to support an annual wage increase and a minimum wage floor for eligible staff Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) staff positions.

Under the CWELCC new Cost-Based Funding approach implemented January 1, 2025, Child Care Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG), Home Child Care Enhancement Grants (HCCEG), General Operating Grants, Pay Equity, and CWELCC Workforce Compensation funding in respect of staff serving children aged 0 to 5 have been integrated into Cost-Based Funding. Cost Based Funding consolidates multiple streams of funding previously provided separately.


Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG)/Home Child Care Enhancement Grant (HCCEG)

WEG Eligibility and WEG Cap

WEG supports an increase of up to $2 per hour, plus 17.5% benefits (applied only to any WEG increase) for eligible positions. To be eligible to receive the full wage enhancement of $2 an hour plus 17.5 per cent in benefits, staff must:

  • be employed in a licensed child care centre or home child care agency;
  • have an associated base wage, excluding WEG, of $2 less than the wage cap of $32.81 per hour identified by the Ministry of Education in 2025; and
  • be in a position categorized as a child care supervisor, RECE, home childcare visitor, or otherwise counted toward adult to child ratios under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA).

For 2025, the Ministry of Education has established an hourly wage maximum of $32.81 per hour for WEG.

Where an eligible centre-based or home visitor position has an associated base wage rate, excluding WEG, between $30.82 and $32.81 per hour, the position is eligible for a partial wage enhancement. The partial wage enhancement will increase the wage of the qualifying position to $32.81 per hour without exceeding the cap.

HCCEG for Home Child Care Providers – Eligibility and HCCEG Caps

HCCEG supports an increase of up to $20 per day for eligible home child care providers contracted with an eligible home child care agency. To be eligible for HCCEG, the home child care provider must:

  • hold a contract with a licensed home child care agency that is enrolled in CWELCC or exclusively serving children aged 6 to 12; and
  • provide services to one or more children (including privately placed children; excluding the provider’s own children).

For 2025, the Ministry of Education has established a maximum of $328.10 per day for full HCCEG and $196.86 for partial HCCEG.

Full Home Child Care Enhancement Grant

In order to be eligible to receive the full HCCEG of $20 per day, an eligible home child care provider must:

  • provide full-time services, on average (6 hours or more a day); and
  • receive base daily fees, excluding prior year’s HCCEG, of $308.10 or less (that is, $20 below the eligibility ceiling of $328.10). Note: those receiving base daily fees between $308.10 and $328.10 would be eligible for an amount to bring fees up to the $328.10 eligibility ceiling.

Partial Home Child Care Enhancement Grant

In order to be eligible to receive the partial HCCEG of $10 per day, an eligible home child care provider must:

  • provide part-time services, on average (less than 6 hours a day); and
  • receive base daily fees, excluding prior year’s HCCEG of $186.86 or less (that is, $10 below the eligibility ceiling of $196.86). Note: those receiving base daily fees between $186.86 and $196.86 would be eligible for an amount to bring fees up to the $196.86 eligibility ceiling.

CWELCC Annual Wage Increase and Wage Floor

To be eligible for workforce compensation funding, staff must be employed in an eligible position by a CWELCC-enrolled operator. Eligible positions include:

  • RECE Program Staff
  • RECE Child Care Supervisor
  • RECE Home Child Care Visitor
Annual Wage Increase

CWELCC-enrolled operators are required to increase the hourly wage of eligible Registered Early Childhood Educator staff by $1/hour, plus benefits, on January 1 of each year, compounded from the previous year, from 2023 to 2026 up to the wage eligibility ceiling. This means that eligible Registered Early Childhood Educator staff would receive up to a $3 per hour in annual increase funding for 2025, including staff who are:

  • continuing in existing positions;
  • newly filling an existing position (e.g., replacing a previous staff member); or
  • filling a newly created position in 2024.

To receive the annual wage increases, eligible staff must be receiving Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG) funding, and the hourly wage including WEG on December 31, 2024 must be below the wage ceilings outlined in the table below.

Table: Wage Eligibility Ceiling (Per Hour)

Year
2023 $25 $25
2024 $26 $29
2025 $27 $30
2026 $28 $31
Wage Floor

The minimum hourly wage floor amounts for RECEs were set by the Province of Ontario and came into effect on April 1, 2022. Eligible centres/agencies are required to bring the wage of all eligible RECE staff up to the wage floor of the given calendar year as identified in the table below. All new, eligible RECE staff hired during the calendar year must earn at least the wage floor identified for the applicable year, plus corresponding benefits. The wage floors come into effect on January 1 of each calendar year.

The hourly wage floor amounts for are noted in the table below:

Table: Minimum Hourly Wage Floor Per Hour from 

Eligible Positions
RECE Program Staff $18 $19 $23.86 $24.86 $25.86
RECE Child Care Supervisorsor RECE Home Child Care Visitors $20 $21 $24.86 $25.86 $26.86

Refer to the Ministry of Education’s 2025 Guidelines which set out the order of operations to determine eligibility for annual wage increase and wage floor funding.

Operators must include General Operating Grant, Pay Equity and any employer-based wage improvements such as obligations from collective agreements and minimum wage increases in the staff base wage when determining annual increase and wage floor amounts for eligible staff in 2025.

Operators must consider workforce compensation in addition to, and not to reduce other, planned compensation increases for eligible staff. For example, the annual wage increase and wage floor cannot be used to reduce or offset planned merit increases for eligible staff.

Please contact your program analyst or our Children’s Services team at childcareservices@halton.ca for questions about workforce compensation.

Non–participation in CWELCC

Licensed child care programs that do not participate in the CWELCC system must continue to follow the rules and requirements for operating a licensed child care program (external link).

Effective January 1, 2025, child care programs not participating in CWELCC that serve children 0-5, are ineligible for General Operating Grant, Wage Enhancement Grants, Home Child Care Enhancement Grants, or other direct funding. This was a change made by the Ministry of Education to support the ongoing success of the CWELCC system. Additionally, child care programs not participating in CWELCC cannot accept new fee subsidy placements.

Licensed centres/agencies that are enrolled in CWELCC, or are not enrolled and exclusively serve children aged 6 to 12, are eligible to receive workforce compensation funding for eligible staff who serve 6-12 age groups.


Frequently Asked Questions

What is CWELCC?

In , the Provincial and Federal governments announced a $13.2 billion child care agreement, known as the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program. CWELCC is a five-year plan that is being implemented in stages, with the goal to make child care more accessible, affordable and inclusive. This includes reducing fees to an average of $10 per day for children under the age of six in licensed child care by . Learn more about Halton Region's role in implementing CWELCC.

What is the Ministry of Education’s Access and Inclusion Framework?

The Access and Inclusion Framework (external PDF) requires Service System Managers to update their service plans with their Directed Growth Plans for CWELCC spaces. Halton’s 2022-2025 Early Learning and Child Care Plan reflects the Region’s commitment to access and inclusion.

When does the Region expect to open CWELCC applications again?

The Region does not have plans to issue a call for applications to allocate CWELCC spaces in either 2025 or 2026. All available spaces have been allocated.

The number of $10 a day child care spaces allocated to Halton Region from the Provincial Government remains insufficient to meet growing community need. No new CWELCC spaces have been committed in Halton beyond 2026 at this time. Halton Region has and continues to advocate to the Federal and Provincial governments for more CWELCC funding so more Halton families can receive affordable child care.

My CWELCC funding allocations are not sufficient. How do I request additional funding?

If your organization has questions about your CWELCC allocation, please contact your Program Analyst.

When will the next child care fee reduction take place?

The Ministry has communicated that to support the transition to a $10 per day average fees March 2026, child care base fees for CWELCC operators will be capped at $22 per day, effective January 1, 2025. This means that, starting , base fees would be either $22 or the current reduced base fee charged to parents on , whichever is less. If families are currently paying less than $22 per day (e.g. a fee that is under the cap) their fee will stay the same. It is important to note that the reduction in base fees is subject to approvals and is still to be confirmed by the Province.

Information about timelines for additional fee reductions will be shared with operators when available.


Guidance and Resources

The following information is intended for child care centre owners, operators and staff on CWELCC:

For guidance from the Ministry of Education and Halton Region, please review the documents below.

To find out more information on CWELCC, refer to the Provincial and Regional supporting documents below.

As the Service System Manager, Halton Region is responsible for implementing an application, review and approval process to determine which licensed child care spaces will be eligible for CWELCC participation. Expressing interest or applying for CWELCC through the CWELCC Application, does not guarantee automatic participation and enrolment into the plan.

Submit an Expression
of Interest form and obtain a
copy of the CWELCC application

Child care operators can refer to the sector memos below from Halton Region Children’s Services for updates on CWELCC.


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