To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
WHEREAS child care centres province-wide are forced to close rooms and limit enrolment due to staffing shortages and retention challenges, aggravating the growing disparity between demand and availability of child care spaces, particularly in underserved areas referred to as “child care deserts”;
WHEREAS experts estimate Ontario may need as many as 65,000 new child care workers to meet the expected demand for $10/day child care;
WHEREAS without proper child care operating funding and a strategy to recruit and retain child care workers through setting a salary scale, increasing wages, and implementing decent work standards, parents will lose access to affordable child care; and
WHEREAS the vitally important work of Early Years and Child Care workers has been historically undervalued, with low pay, poor working conditions, and high turnover;