The Ministry of Education provides a Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG) and Home Child Care Enhancement Grant (HCCEG) to support wages for child care professionals working in licensed child care settings. These funds are available for:
- Program staff working in licensed child care programs
- Home visitors and providers working with a licensed home child care agency
The goals of WEG/HCCEG are to support a stable, accessible high quality child care system through:
- Helping licensed child care operators to retain RECEs/child care staff
- Supporting greater employment and income security
- Closing the wage gap between RECE wages in the school board and licensed child care sectors
Halton Region administers the WEG/HCCEG funding to licensed child care operators and agencies on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
Funding for 2019
In June 2019, the Ministry of Education confirmed allocations for 2019 and made two key changes related to WEG/HCCEG funding
- Municipalities are no longer required to follow the Ministry of Education application process; and,
- The Ministry of Education established hourly wage maximum, or wage cap, has increased to $27.47 per hour for wage enhancement, and $274.70 per day for full home child care enhancement.
For operators that are currently receiving WEG/HCCEG, a Year-To-Date Report, including instructions, has been sent directly to programs to confirm 2019 entitlements. If you have not received the Year-To-Date Report for your program, please contact Children’s Services Division at: WEG@Halton.ca
Any new programs interested in accessing 2019 WEG or HCCEG funding must complete the online question form.
Updated 2019 WEG and HCCEG user guides are available as a resource to child care operators, program staff and child care providers.