America Should Take Notes From Ontario's Child Care Policy

The subject of child care has definitely been on a lot of people's minds recently. With President Donald Trump's supposed resilient stance on providing more American families with affordable child care, and nothing being done about it yet, it's anyone's guess as to what will actually happen. Whether Trump will continue with his tax break plan (which leaves much to be desired), or if something new will come along and replace it — so much is still yet to be determined. Fortunately, the United States' neighbor to the north is on top of things: Ontario's new child care policy is a huge step in the right direction of affordable child care, and the world should take note.

According to The Toronto Star, Ontario is working to create "affordable child-care spaces for all parents who want them," and has already laid out a detailed plan for how to do so in the next five years. So while American families are left wondering if a minuscule credit is all they'll be getting, citizens in Ontario will be able to access an affordable child care system that emphasizes inclusion, special needs programs, and the creation of 45,000 new child care centers across the province. Clearly, Canada knows that the issues that impact women and families the most matter, and shouldn't be so political.

Ontario's new child care initiative comes from both the education minister and the early years and child care minister, who have pledged to allocate over $1.5 billion CAD in funding to create the new child care centers. As CBC News reported,

The new framework aims to increase access to high-quality child care by funding those new spaces, providing more funding for licensed home child care and offering more fee subsidies for families who need them.

And as Toronto parents are among those in the world who spend the most on child care per year (around $20,000 CAD, to be exact), this new plan is a great step forward for families in Ontario who are struggling to provide for their little ones.

With the United States watching on, Canada continues to make huge strides towards progress. And this new child care plan is no different.

"It contains a ground-breaking set of initiatives that will help us continue to transform the early years and child-care system," said early years and child care minister Indira Naidoo-Harris. Harris was appointed to the minister position in January of this year, and has wasted no time in shaking things up, for the better. As Ontario works to better the lives of its citizens, hopefully other countries (cough *America* cough) will start to catch on as well.