1881  Establishment of The Creche in Toronto (now Victoria Day Care Services).

1926  Establishment of the University of Toronto’s Institute of Child Study and its laboratory school, St. George’s Nursery, to train nursery school teachers.

1942   Ontario was one of two provinces to sign the Dominion-Provincial War Time Agreement with the federal government enabling 50% cost-sharing for nurseries for children whose mothers were employed in essential war industries. The Day Nurseries Branch was established to administer funding and support the development of new nurseries.

1945  Twenty-eight day nurseries in Ontario serviced 900 preschool children in 44 “school units” which served approximately 2,500 children. At the end of the War, federal funding was withdrawn and the province threatened to close all centres.

1946  The Day Nursery and Day Care Parents’ Association in Toronto successfully lobbied to keep the day nurseries open.

The Day Nurseries Act was passed, providing provincial funds to cover 50% of net operating costs of child care programs and a system of licensing and regular inspection for centres.

1950  The Nursery Education Association of Ontario (now the Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ontario) was established.

1966  The introduction of the federal Canada Assistance Plan resulted in the provision of fee subsidies in Ontario for low-income families.

1974   Ontario’s first major policy statement on child care called it a welfare service for those in social/financial need.

The Day Care Reform Action Alliance successfully fought the “Birch Proposals”, the provincial government’s proposed reduction in staff/child ratios and other standards to reduce costs.

1978   The Day Nurseries Act was amended to require licensing of private home day care agencies. The Regulation was amended in 1984 to provide requirements for private home day care.

1980   The Ontario Coalition for Better Day Care (later Child Care) formed to advocate for public funding for universally accessible, high quality, non-profit child care.

1987   In New Directions for Day Care, government policy promised a “comprehensive policy that recognizes child care as a basic public service, not a welfare service”. A 3 year plan to provide additional funds to expand non-profit child care programs was announced.

1991   The provincial government made two announcements that reflected its intention to establish growth in the non-profit sector: a Wage Enhancement Grant for workers in non-profit care as a “down payment” on pay equity, and a strategy to encourage commercial programs to convert to non-profit status.

1992   The provincial government released Child Care Reform in Ontario: Setting the Stage, which stated four basic principles as the basis for child care reform: quality, affordability, accessibility, and sound management. The consultation paper promised dramatic reform of child care in Ontario with the goal of making high quality child care accessible to every family. New legislation was to be developed by the end of 1994.

The provincial government also released the Ontario Child Care Management Framework, establishing a context for the development of new programs and changes to existing programs.

School boards were granted eligibility to hold licenses to operate child care programs. As part of the Jobs Ontario Training Fund, 8,200 child care subsidies, fully funded by the province, were targeted to assist unemployed parents looking for work or participating in job training programs.

1994   The report of The Royal Commission on Learning recommended introduction of early childhood education programs for all 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds.

1995  The provincial government announced a major pilot project, The Early Years Program, the first step toward a “seamless day” for 4- and 5 year-olds. School boards were asked to submit proposals for pilot status.

In June, the Harris (Progressive Conservative) government was elected. Their platform, the Common Sense Revolution, promised to change the directions in child care made during the two previous (Liberal and NDP) governments.

Before the end of 1995, the following changes were made:

• Jobs Ontario subsidies (fully-funded by the province) reverted to 80-20% provincial-municipal cost-sharing;
• the proxy fund for pay equity for staff in non-profit child care centres was capped;
• the Program Development Fund (start-up and minor capital) was eliminated;
• major capital funding was cancelled;
• funding that supported inclusion of child care facilities in new school sites was cancelled;
•  the Conversion (to non-profit) Program was cancelled;
• the Early Years Program (to pilot a 'seamless day' for 4-and 5-year-olds) was cancelled; and
•  the policy limiting new subsidies to non-profit programs was reversed.

1996  The proxy mechanism that allowed child care staff to benefit from The Pay Equity Act was eliminated.

A review of the child care program was conducted by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. The Ministry produced Improving Child Care in Ontario in September 1996. Its proposals included:

• reduction of Wage Subsidy for staff in non-profit centres and resource centres;
• minor capital (50/50 cost-shared) which included for-profit child care for the first time;
• less frequent monitoring;
• an increase in the preschool staff/child ratio;
• an increase in the number of school-aged  children permitted in regulated family day care;
• a change in cost-sharing for special needs children; and
• introduction of user fees in resource centres.

NOTE: with the exception of changes from an 87/13 to 80/20 cost-sharing for children with special needs, none of the above proposals were implemented.