Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns is calling on the province to protect parents from non-refundable child care wait list fees.
On Thursday, May 5, the NDP member of provincial parliament introduced a private members bill – Bill 95, Child Care and Early Years Amendment Act (Waiting Lists), 2016 – in the Ontario Legislature to stop this practice.
“Families have enough difficulty with child care fees. They shouldn’t have to pay to wait for a child care space,” Tabuns wrote in an email to Metroland Media Toronto.
“Because of the shortage of spaces parents put their children on multiple waiting lists. The fees don’t guarantee a child care spot but they do put a real burden on parents.”
Tabuns said families need to ensure they can get good quality child care when they need it.
“Putting in place fair wait lists that don’t put a burden on families is the least we can do to help them today,” said Tabuns, who said he developed the bill at the request of local parents.
A date has not been set for the bill’s second reading.
Last month, Beaches-East York Liberal MPP Arthur Potts presented a petition at Queen’s Park that also called for a ban on the practice of charging non-refundable waiting list fees to parents for daycare spaces in Ontario.
– Joanna Lavoie