Policy Essay

Child care subsidization has benefited families in Canada in numerous ways. Subsidization aids in assisting those families who cannot afford to provide and pay for their children's child care. In 1991, Canada signed the United Nations Conventions on the rights of the child. As a result of this declaration, the government promised the public that they would target and combat issues surrounding poverty, health care, education and child neglect. "The focus of the agreement is based on what is best for children and how to ensure provision, protection and participation," (Chandler, 2003 Pg. 29). It is based on this promise that the government decided to subsidize child care by focusing and acknowledging on the needs of the growing families within Canada. Subsidy is a form of social assistance which is aimed at providing the basic needs for individuals and their children. This paper focuses on what subsidy is and how it works.

Subsidized childcare is based on fee subsidy. Fee subsidy is described as "financial assistance available to eligible residents to assist with the cost of licensed childcare for children 0 - 12 years of age," (http://childcare.ca). This fee subsidy aids families in paying for child care within regulated child care facilities. The cost of the subsidy is shared with the municipalities. "Municipalities may determine the rules for making subsidies available to individual families and administer payment of those subsidies," (Chandler, 2003 Pg. 43). Municipalities require the subsidized families to pay a user fee, thus, these subsidies which are granted to families are not free of cost. The cost of the user fees depends on the family and their annual income. Therefore, there is no such thing as "free child care", regardless whether or not one receives child care subsidy they are still required to pay a nominal fee. This of course has effects on the lower income families. The government may set a user fee amount for them which they may be unable to pay and this of course leads to many differing issues. Canadians increasingly are relying on the government to help them with child care costs. According to the Canadian Policy Research Network's latest study, "three-quarters of Canadians want a childcare system available to all families that are paid for by both the government and parents," (Greenaway, 1999). However, the government is unfortunately unable to cover the fees of child care for all the families in need and this is an unfortunate setback for many low income families.

The need for subsidized childcare has drastically increased in recent years. Due to the overwhelming number of immigrants there is a lot more population then there was 10 years ago. As a result, subsidized child care is difficult to acquire. Currently only licensed child care facilities are subsidized, which means it is extremely hard to find subsidized care for children since most facilities are already overbooked due to the increasing population and its demands.

The government has taken drastic initiatives by attempting to expand spaces and create increased access to childcare. However, it's still not enough. The government has further proposed to implement a plan that allows non-registered child care facilities to be eligible for subsidization. This would drastically improve the current situation. "The provincial government provides child care fee subsidies to approximately 73,400 Ontario families to help them with their financial state," (childcareontario.org). There are about 22,600 subsidized child care spaces in Toronto. On July 14th 2005, the McGuinty Government announced, "families will have access to quality childcare by creating 4,000 new subsidized child care spaces across the province" (Friendly, 2003 National Post). Although the government plays an active role in providing high-quality child care to parents who can't afford it, many families are not eligible and are forced to use unlicensed daycare.

The City of Toronto provides fee subsidies so that low-income families can afford child care. There are lots of middle-class families who can't afford to send their children to high-quality child care and child care programs. "Middle class demands for help are motivated by a national shortage of licensed child care services especially subsidized slots," (Greenaway, 1999). Most middle-class families are not eligible to receive subsidy for their child. Most families in Toronto can apply for the social assistance families but not all. Residents of the City of Toronto, Canadian citizens, landed immigrants, refugees with a valid work permit or school authorization, working parents, self-employed parents, students and household with special needs are families eligible to apply for subsidy. "Landed immigrants and refugees need to provide current and valid documentation regarding their status