The ink is drying on Ontario's budget, on Wednesday March 28th, Ontario's Finance Minister, the Honourable Charles Sousa will deliver the 2018 Ontario budget. If each of us takes 10 minutes to complete a simple digital action, we can make sure that Ontario Budget 2018 delivers on our demands for early years and child care. 

Copy, paste and edit (as outlined) the text below to send an email to Ontario Finance Minister, the Honourable Charles Sousa, and copy Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Education Indira Naidoo-Harris to remind our leaders that you are expecting big things for child care in the upcoming 2018 budget. 

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Subject line: Ontarians expect big things for child care in the 2018 budget

Dear Charles Sousa,

I am writing to you to express my concerns about the child care crisis in Ontario. Parent fees for child care are sky high while early childhood educator’s wages are too low.  I am (describe yourself: registered early childhood educator, parent, child care provider, etc) and I strongly believe that the government of Ontario should publicly fund child care programs so that they are affordable for all families and so that children can benefit from educators who are well paid. There are solutions to the child care crisis, I support the 2018 budget recommendations made by Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC):

• Commit at least $375 million as a first step to establishing a province-wide wage scale for RECEs and program staff with entry level pay for RECEs at $25 per hour and commensurate compensation for other program staff.
• Allocate $600 million as a down payment on affordability; Begin operational funding of all licensed infant and toddler spaces in child care centres and establish a sliding fee scale in 2018-19.
• Expand the capital funding for the non-profit and public sectors to make a real difference in availability of child care spaces.

Increased public funding to early years and child care will improve the recruitment and retention of Ontario RECEs through appropriate wages and good working conditions while ensuring that services are more affordable for families and children.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
City, Province
Postal Code
Email
Phone Number

Look for more follow up e-blasts about calls to action leading up to the budget reading on March 28, 2018!