The largest child-care operator in Ontario, among others, are warning that child-care centres across the province are at risk of having to shut down, if the provincial government doesn’t soon revise how it compensates them under the national ten-dollar-a-day program.

This caution from the YMCA comes as Ontario seeks to substantially increase the amount of child-care spaces.

Even though the non-profit is a big supporter of the ten-dollar-a-day program, it notes that the way it is currently being funded isn’t sustainable.

The fees that parents pay for child care have been cut in half, with the Ontario government replacing that revenue to centres, but the YMCA warns that it’s leaving many operators with deficits.

Child-care centre operators say the government’s funding model is based on rates that do not reflect the true current cost of providing child care, and the 2.1% increase factored in for 2024 to account for inflation isn’t nearly enough.

A spokesperson for Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the province is calling for more federal money.