(Originally published July 28, 2026 on CUPE.ca).

A new report reveals that the expansion of affordable child care services in Ontario has delivered a substantial economic boost to the province, even as the Province falls behind in implementing the new national program.

The report, authored by economist Dr. Jim Stanford from the Centre for Future Work, finds that Ontario’s GDP in 2024 was $13.6 billion higher than it would have been without the expansion of child care since 2019.

That growth in GDP generated approximately $2.25 billion in extra provincial revenue in 2024 alone. This amount slightly exceeded the provincial funding to child care that year, indicating the program effectively pays for itself through increased economic activity.

• Job Creation: Over 17,000 new jobs have been created in Ontario’s child care sector since 2019, with total sector compensation expected to exceed $3 billion in 2026.
• Empowering Women in the Workforce: Core-age (25-54) female labour force participation in Ontario increased by two full percentage points between 2019 and 2026—outpacing the national trend. This shift, combined with more women moving from part-time to full-time work, added 81,500 full-time-equivalent workers to the provincial economy.
• Improved Job Quality: Average weekly earnings for child care workers rose by 39% since 2019, while average weekly hours increased from 26 to 31.

“Affordable, quality child care services are a vital precondition for economic progress,” said Stanford. “The data confirm that even Ontario’s partial and inconsistent rollout of the national program has been an economic boon. However, the province is leaving billions of dollars in potential growth on the table by failing to meet its targets for new spaces and lower fees”.

Despite economic gains, the report highlights significant concerns regarding the Ontario government’s commitment to the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program. Ontario’s current child care agreement is set to expire in March 2027, and Ontario remains 25% behind its target for creating new spaces for children under six.

Furthermore, while the national goal is $10-a-Day, daily CWELCC fees in Ontario currently average $19 with a cap of $22. The report also criticizes the province’s heavy reliance on for-profit providers—accounting for 44% of full-day spaces—which research associates with lower quality of care and higher staff turnover.

“Economic gains would have been even larger had the province moved more quickly and consistently to make the most of federal support,” said Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. “Ontario parents are still facing long waitlists and fees that remain too high. The provincial government must stop its half-hearted commitment, sign a new five-year agreement with the federal government, and boost its own provincial funding to child care in the next budget.”

A critical challenge identified in the report is the ongoing workforce crisis. While real earnings for ELCC staff have grown by 15% since 2019, wages remain significantly lower than in other professions with similar training requirements.

“While the economic figures are impressive, we cannot ignore that this system is built on the hard work of educators who are still waiting for professional pay,” said Amber Straker, Executive Director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. “To solve the shortage of over 10,000 Registered Early Childhood Educators, the province must implement a pay-equity-compliant, province-wide wage grid. Investing in the workforce is the only way to ensure the quality and sustainability of the child care system that Ontario’s economy now relies upon”.

The report concludes with urgent recommendations for the Ontario government, including securing long-term funding through 2031, eliminating “child care deserts”, and fulfilling the $10-a-Day affordability promise.

“If Ontario fails to fully commit to a universal system, these historic economic gains will be squandered,” added Stanford.

• Full report 
• One-page summary

The members of CUPE child care Local 5575 have shown what workers can accomplish when they stand together in unity and solidarity.

After their employer cut their wages in 2024, workers organized collectively and successfully won union certification in January 2025.

Through more than a year and a half of determined bargaining, members remained united, supported one another, and refused to give up on their shared goal of achieving a fair first collective agreement.

Their perseverance paid off with a historic contract that delivers meaningful improvements to wages, benefits, and working conditions.

The first contract also includes enhanced vacation entitlements from 25 to 30 days for employees with 25 years of service, increased paid sick leave, annual professional development funding of $250, two hours of dedicated programming time, stronger severance protections, improved paid personal leave, and stronger language protecting members’ rights through the grievance process and anti-harassment language.

The agreement also provides paid time for bargaining preparation and negotiations, recognizing the important role members play in shaping their workplace. This victory demonstrates that when workers organize, stand united, and speak with one collective voice, they have the power to improve and build stronger workplaces.

Child care workers and early childhood educators, ECEs, at the Learning Enrichment Foundation, LEF, have voted over 80% in favour of joining CUPE.

In a sector plagued by financial uncertainty and a long running workforce crisis, the unionization of 314 ECEs and early childhood assistants, ECAs, at LEF’s 25 sites across Toronto, is a promising development. These new members now join more than 5,000 child care workers represented by CUPE in Ontario who are actively fighting for higher wages, better benefits, pensions, and the protection of WSIB.

“Workers deserve a voice in decisions about how their workplaces operate. That became abundantly clear to LEF child workers this summer when LEF announced they would be cutting educators’ pay.  Through organizing and joining CUPE, workers at LEF will now have a voice in their workplace and a seat at the table to negotiate a first contract,” says Liisa Schofield CUPE organizer.

The delivery and implementation of the federally funded Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program has varied widely between provinces. Nova Scotia, for instance, announced in 2023 they’d be instituting a defined pension plan for all child care workers while British Columbia has committed to a fully funded wage grid.

Ontario has done neither. All the while, pay, benefits, and working conditions for Ontario child care workers fall further behind other jurisdictions, it’s become clear that the successful expansion of early education and care in this province cannot happen without improvements to working conditions to attract and retain skilled workers. It is estimated, Ontario will be short 8500 ECEs by 2026 as child care workers leave jobs they love because they don’t see a future in the sector.

“The government has stubbornly refused to implement the changes needed to address the workforce crisis,” says Christina Gilligan, associate coordinator for the child care sector at CUPE and a former ECE. “Unions are the way forward. Through unions, workers can push for the jobs and compensation they need and the investments in public services that families absolutely deserve.”

CUPE is committed to quality, affordable, publicly funded child care and to expanding the protections of a union to all child care workers so they can use their voice in collective bargaining to improve their lives.