The Ontario government is expanding the list of essential workers in the province who are eligible to receive free emergency child care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Wednesday (April 29) along with Minister of Health Christine Elliott and Minister of Education Stephen Lecce.
The additional front-line workers who can now access emergency child care services include:
- Workers in grocery stores and pharmacies
- Truck drivers (driver’s licence Class A and Class D)
- Workers in the food supply chain, including food processing
- Workers in retirement homes
- Auxiliary workers in health care settings, including cooks and cleaning staff in hospitals and long-term care homes
- Interpreters and intervenors who support people who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deaf-blind
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry emergency personnel
- Provincial officers and onsite staff in Ontario courts
- Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence staff working in Ontario
- Additional workers supporting public safety and correctional services.
“While our front-line workers are looking after us, we need to make sure we’re looking after them and their families,” Premier Ford said.
“Providing emergency child care for our essential workers gives parents one less thing to worry about when they’re on the job saving lives, protecting us, or keeping shelves stocked with food and necessities.”
On Sunday, March 22nd, the Ontario government announced an emergency order directing certain child care centres to reopen, subject to physical distancing constraints, to provide access to child care for health care and other front-line workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police, and correctional officers.
On Friday, April 17th, the government expanded the list of essential workers eligible to access emergency child care to include those who assist vulnerable communities, emergency response and law enforcement sector staff, more health and safety workers, and certain federal employees.
Almost 100 child care centres have since reopened along with 40 licensed home child care agencies in communities across the province. To accommodate the children of more front-line workers, 37 additional centres have been approved to reopen in the coming days.
All child care sites are required to have a protocol in place in the event that a child, parent, or staff member at the site is exposed to COVID-19.
More information about eligibility and a list of emergency child care centres is available on the Ontario government website at ontario.ca/page/child-care-health-care-and-frontline-staff.
