Province has secured extra funding outside the childcare deal: sources

The Ford government has secured extra money for childcare outside of the $10.2 billion being offered by the federal government, sources tell CityNews.

The signed deal remains for $10.2 billion over five years, the initial offer from the federal government, despite the Ford government holding out for months.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford will appear at a news conference on Monday at 11 a.m..

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Ontario has long been the holdout to sign on to this $30-billion childcare plan, arguing it deserves more cash than its per capita share due, in part, to full-day kindergarten.

Multiple federal sources say there will be no special credit for Ontario’s kindergarten program.

A federal government source with knowledge of the deal confirms Ontario has secured a sixth year of funding, which will be its share of long-term funding laid out in the initial child care plan.

Other sources say the provincial government was also able to secure more flexibility in how the money will be spent, and able to secure a review with a deal in year three with more possible funding being implemented at that point.

On extra funding for Ontario's child care deal, a fed gov't source tells me this is Ontario securing it's per capita share of funding for 2026, in advance of other provinces.
Funding beyond year 5 was already set out in budget 2021 but had required further negotiations #cdnpoli https://t.co/5KdEoxnhUo

— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) March 28, 2022

The additional funds for Ontario were already allocated for all provinces in the 2021 budget for the year 2026 and beyond, however Ontario has locked it into place for year 2026 ahead of other provinces.

Ontario will be getting its per capita share for that extra year.

As a part of the initial federal child care plan after year five, the federal government had set aside long-term funding of a minimum of $9.2-billion per year to be divided per capita to the provinces.

However, access to the long term funds were meant to require further negotiations.

In negotiations with the federal government, the federal source tells CityNews that Ontario expressed concerns about long term stability of funding, and that is why they secured a sixth year of funding and a review in year three.