Officials are calling on municipalities in Peterborough County to offer underused space or surplus land to help create more child-care spaces, as demand for child care continues to rise. As of April 2024, there are 3,700 children in the city and county on a wait-list for child-care services, despite there being approximately 4,400 licensed child-care spaces among 59 sites and 73 licensed home child-care providers. Some townships, such as Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, have wait-lists that exceed the spaces available, leading to concerns that many children will age out of child care before getting a licensed space. The aim is to add more child-care spaces in priority areas such as Selwyn Township, Cavan-Monaghan Township, and Peterborough’s northwest/Chemong area and southwest section.
Peterborough Children’s Services is urging county councillors to explore any municipally owned buildings and land space that could be utilized to create new child-care spaces. Without the addition of new spaces, the program risks losing government funding estimated to be up to $3 million per year. In 2023, the program opened 51 home care spaces and 39 new child-care spaces at the Norwood Public School, with plans for over 100 new spaces in 2024 and 49 new spaces at the Compass Early Learning Centre at St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Douro-Dummer Township in 2025. One option in Selwyn Township is the former Ridpath Junior Public School building in Lakefield, although the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has indicated it may reuse the building in the future.
Otonabee-South Monaghan Township Mayor Joe Taylor is receptive to exploring options to provide child-care spaces, while Asphodel-Norwood Township Mayor Pat Wilford emphasizes the need to consider financial implications. County warden Bonnie Clark highlights the importance of improving wages for early childhood educators, as this may be a barrier to expanding existing child-care sites if they cannot attract staff. Demand for child care spiked in March 2022 following Ontario’s entry into a $13.2-billion Canada-wide early learning and child-care agreement, with the goal of lowering child-care fees to $10 per day for children ages five and under. Fisher notes that the average daily cost for a child was $42 before the announcement, and has since decreased to $21 per day, with the goal of reaching $10 per day by 2026.
The Peterborough area received $13.3 million for child care in 2023, $15.5 million in 2023, and $18.9 million earmarked for 2024. This funding covers 485 new child-care spaces (39 of those in schools) by 2026. Peterborough Children’s Services has also requested additional funding for 162 more spaces, but is still awaiting a response. The growing demand for child-care spaces in the city and county highlights the need for municipalities to collaborate and offer unused or underused spaces to help address the shortage. By working together and leveraging available resources, communities can help meet the increasing need for quality child-care services in the area.
