New B2C2 survey finds operators are willing to expand — but current conditions will not produce growth at the scale families need

TORONTO — Building Blocks for Child Care (B2C2) is calling on the governments of Canada and Ontario to make measurable expansion and access the central objective of the system’s next phase, using the new four-year extension of the Canada–Ontario Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement.

The September 29 agreement will provide Ontario with nearly $12 billion in federal funding from 2027 to 2031. Canada and Ontario will also negotiate Ontario’s share of the additional $5.4 billion the federal government announced in June over two years to help provinces and territories keep child care fees stable and affordable.

B2C2 welcomes the funding stability. Its new report, Listen to the Operators: How Can We Make Growth Happen in Ontario Centre-Based Child Care?, shows that the next step is to turn that stability into new spaces.

The story

B2C2 surveyed 337 Ontario child care organizations operating more than 1,000 centres. “The results challenge the idea that non-profit operators are unwilling to grow: among non-profit and public multi-site respondents, 51% plan to expand and another 34% are unsure”, said Sheila Olan-Maclean, CEO of Compass Early Learning.  Eight of the nine organizations contemplating projects of more than 200 spaces are non-profit or public.

But the planned expansion identified by respondents amounts to only about 8,000–10,000 spaces over five years. The survey was not a random sample and should not be extrapolated as a province-wide forecast; nevertheless, it shows a large gap between what project operators currently expect to undertake and Ontario’s need for hundreds of thousands of additional spaces.

Why projects stall

“For operators like us that are already pursuing expansion a key barrier is the limited CWELCC expansion window and ultimately capital and operating funding for new spaces with restricted timelines. We have several aspirational projects, in collaboration with community partners, that we cannot confirm to proceed with because these would not be licensed for several years, but buildings are being designed now”, stated Kim Hiscott, Executive Director of Andrew Fleck Child Care Services,

Among organizations not currently planning expansion, CWELCC funding uncertainty is the leading deterrent, followed by staffing shortages and lack of suitable space. Inadequate operating and capital funding also strongly discourages expansion.

“As the ED of the organization, I had to undertake 2 full-time jobs for 18 months in order to open our second centre.”

— Multi-site non-profit operator

“Our wait list is double our operating spaces. Some families will never be able to access the reduced fee childcare.”

— Multi-site non-profit operator

B2C2’s message

The extension secures CWELCC’s affordability gains and gives governments a longer planning horizon. B2C2 urges Ontario to use that opportunity to establish a measurable expansion plan, a transparent project pipeline, stable operating funding, permanent capital and financing tools, a workforce strategy linked to expansion, coordinated approvals, and development support for operators.

“The first phase of CWELCC was about affordability. The next phase must be about access,” said Susan Colley, Chair of Building Blocks for Child Care. “Ontario has experienced operators willing to grow. What they need now is a public plan and the financing, workforce and implementation machinery to make growth possible at scale.”

Media availability

B2C2 representatives and participating child care operators are available to discuss:

• what expansion looks like on the ground for child care operators;
• why non-profit and public operators are willing to grow but face significant financial and administrative risk;
• why current operator-led projects will not meet the scale of Ontario’s need; and
• how the new CWELCC agreement could be used to create a practical provincial expansion plan.

Report: Listen to the Operators: How Can We Make Growth Happen in Ontario Centre-Based Child Care?

Background source for funding announcement: Government of Canada, “Canada and Ontario agree to four-year extension of Canada–Ontario Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement,” September 29, 2026.