Where a school board chooses to enter into an agreement with a provider to deliver an authorized recreational and skill building program, the school board must ensure that the following programming requirements set out below are included in the agreement between the school board and the authorized recreational skill building program provider.

For after school programs that serve kindergarten students or higher, school boards may enter into an agreement with an authorized recreational and skill building program.

As set out under subsection 6(4) of the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 and its General Regulation, Authorized Recreational and Skill Building Programs may operate on weekdays during the school year, outside the time when instruction is typically provided for pupils enrolled in schools for no more than one period of up to three consecutive hours of care each day. The program must include, as a complementary purpose, activities that promote recreational, artistic, musical or athletic skills or provide religious, cultural or linguistic instruction. Children must be aged four (or if the child care is provided on or after September 1 in a calendar year, the child will attain the age of four in that year) and up, the program must not be operated at a person’s home and the program must be:

  • operated by the local service system manager, a municipality, a school board, a First Nation or the Métis Nation of Ontario
  • operated by an organization that delivers Ontario’s After School Program funded by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
  • operated by a member of YMCA Canada or by a member of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
  • operated by a member of a provincial sport organization or multi-sport organization recognized by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, where the program’s activities are related to the sport or sports promoted by the organization
  • operated by an organization that is recognized by Parks and Recreation Ontario as a HIGH FIVE accredited organization
  • operated by a Friendship Centre that is a member of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres
  • operated by an agency or attraction of the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries (such as, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre)
  • authorized by the local service system manager or a First Nation to offer child care, provided that the program supports the health, safety and well-being of children

Expanded hours

Section 3.1 of O. Reg. 137/15 under the CCEYA allows the following authorized recreational providers to operate before and after school programs with expanded hours (more than 3 hours each day) on weekdays during the school year, upon Ministry approval:

  • a local service system manager, municipality or First Nation
  • an organization delivering Ontario’s After School Program funded by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
  • member of YMCA Canada or Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
  • a Friendship Centre that is a member of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

Eligible providers wishing to operate under the exemption must seek approval from the ministry. More information about this process can be found in before and after school programs: what parents and providers need to know.

Program requirements

Research suggests that key factors in quality after-school programs include staff qualifications, small group sizes, more adults per child to encourage increased and meaningful interaction, and a variety of activities that stem from self-directed programming.

Principles guiding programming

Requirement:

Authorized Recreational and Skill Building programs should be consistent with How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years.

  • View of the child: All students are competent and capable of complex thinking, curious and rich in potential. Programming allows students to exercise choice and responds to individual interests.
  • Positive interactions: Programs support students in making connections with their peers and staff in structured and unstructured interactions, and provide opportunities for students to engage in independent activities. All Students, including students with differing abilities, feel valued, connected to others, and are able to make positive contributions to the group, community and natural world.
  • Developmentally responsive: All students are able to participate fully in ways that are most comfortable for them. Programs support physical and mental health and wellness, and are rooted in an understanding of child development and the broader contexts within which this development is happening (for example, local, social, cultural, economic).
  • Safe, inclusive spaces: Programs establish and maintain positive, harassment/discrimination free environments for optimal participant growth so that students, each with differing abilities, interests and perspectives feel that their experiences and strengths are valued.

Staffing ratios

Requirement

Authorized recreational and skill building programs must have a minimum of one staff person for every 15 students (1:15). Where the number of students exceeds 15, a second staff person is required.

Each group of children shall not exceed a maximum size of 30 students. Note that this does not refer to the total number of children served by a program. There may be multiple groups of children, in separate areas, served by one program.

Staff qualifications and supervision

Requirement:

Each program must have access to at least one adult to lead the program who meets one of the following criteria:

  • is a member in good standing with the College of Early Childhood Educators
  • is a member in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers
  • has a diploma or degree in child and youth care
  • has a diploma or degree in recreation and leisure services
  • has a diploma or degree in social work, psychology, sociology, kinesiology with a focus/experience working with children aged 4 (or if the child care is provided on or after September 1 in a calendar year, the child will attain the age of 4 in that year) to 12 years old

Programs must have adult supervision on-site at all times and at least one adult must meet the requirements above or be enrolled as a student in the fields identified above.

Additionally, where a program is the sole occupant of the premises, there must be a minimum of two adults on-site at all times.

Active play

Requirement:

After-school programs must offer a minimum of 30 minutes of active play in daily programming. Activities should be developmentally appropriate and accommodate fitness levels and interests of students. Emphasis should focus on participation and enjoyment and can include introducing participants to a range of developmentally appropriate physical activities such as sports, dance, free gym time, and active games.

This requirement aligns with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s guidelines recommending 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity for children aged 5-17. It is also consistent with the principles outlined in How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years, which include creating opportunities for children to engage in active play that allow them to connect with the natural world and their community.

Outdoor play

Considerations:

How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years notes that children thrive where they can engage in vigorous physical play in natural outdoor spaces. In addition to providing physical benefits, active play outdoors strengthens functioning in cognitive areas such as perception, attention, creative problem solving, and complex thinking.

Optional activities and programs

Considerations:

School boards may encourage recreation providers to offer specific programming based on the needs and interests of the community and participants in the program. This programming can include:

  • unstructured time to allow children to develop interests, engage with their peers, play independently, and make choices and decisions for themselves
  • academic assistance or time for students to complete schoolwork
  • arts and cultural activities that promote inclusion, knowledge of other cultures, or creative pursuits
  • personal health and wellness education (such as, anti-bullying, body image, fostering resilience)
  • community involvement
  • providing snacks for students participating in the program. All food should meet Canada’s Food Guide, updated and released to the public in January 2019

Developmentally responsive spaces

Considerations:

Programs should ensure spaces are clean and in a good state of repair. Environments should be inviting and designed together with students based on their abilities and interests, allowing for a variety of activities that are responsive to individual development. Spaces should allow for both independent and small group experiences.

Furnishings and materials should support a range of interests that provide for learning, creative expression, recreational activities, and relaxation.

Health and safety requirements

Requirement:

Where a school board chooses to enter into an agreement with an authorized recreational and skill building program, the agreements must require that the operator meet the following conditions:

Policies and procedures

Requirement:

Authorized recreational and skill building programs must have the following policies in place at each site and reviewed annually with all staff:

  • an emergency action plan communicated with the school and visibly posted
  • accident and injury reporting
  • plans for children with medical or special needs
  • safety policies to monitor equipment and facilities
  • reducing risk of and responding to exposure to anaphylactic causative agents
  • safe arrival and departure procedures for children, particularly with regard to transitions after the school day (see below)
  • safe food handling with a minimum of one staff person that has been certified in a licensed safe food handling course
  • vulnerable sector screening for all staff prior to interacting with children
  • the provision of healthy and nutritious food and drink for students (if the program provides snacks)
  • ensuring protection of privacy of children, youth and their families

Safe arrival/dismissal policy

Requirement:

At a minimum, this policy should include a:

  • daily sign-in/sign-out procedure so that staff are aware of which children are in attendance and which are absent
  • procedure to be followed if a child does not attend and staff have not been notified in advance of the reason (for example, contact school/parent if child has not arrived by a certain time)
  • process by which parents must inform the program in writing of who is or is not allowed to pick up their children
  • process by which parents must provide written consent for children of any age to sign themselves in and out
  • process by which the authorized recreational and skill building provider communicates with the school to support transitions before and/or after the school day

Standard First Aid and CPR

Requirement:

All staff must be certified in Standard First Aid/CPR from a Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) recognized agency.

Section 58 of O. Reg. 137/15 under the CCEYA allows an Authorized Recreational and Skill Building programs to employ a person who does not have a valid certification in standard first aid for up to three months if:

  • the operator requires the person to obtain the certification as soon as reasonably possible
  • the length of time required to obtain the certification justifies it, and
  • at any time during which the person is supervising children, another individual that is certified in Standard First Aid/CPR is available and would be able to respond to an emergency

Vulnerable sector checks

Requirement:

Authorized recreational and skill building programs are required to obtain vulnerable sector checks (VSCs) from all staff, volunteers, and students before they interact with children.

For any person, other than an employee, volunteer or student, who provides services to a child in the program, the program must obtain an offence declaration from the person or an attestation from their employer that a vulnerable sector check has been obtained and reviewed.

Under section 61.1 of O. Reg. 137/15 under the CCEYA the following individuals are not required to obtain vulnerable sector checks:

Vulnerable sector checks should be renewed every five years and offence declarations should be completed annually except in the year when a vulnerable sector check is obtained.

Authorized Recreational and Skill Building programs are required to have a policy in place to ensure that persons in contact with children in their programs are appropriately screened or supervised.

Organizational requirements

Professional learning and development

Requirement:

Authorized recreational and skill building programs must have a staff training plan that ensures orientation, as well as initial and ongoing staff education. A staff training plan must include:

  • yearly after school/organizational orientation where the staff sign off on the organization’s policies and procedures
  • training in occupational health and safety
  • training in ways to encourage positive interactions and communication among peers and support students’ self-regulation abilities; and training on prohibited adult practices (for example. using harsh or degrading measures withholding physical activity as a form of punishment)
  • training in conflict resolution
  • training in Standard First Aid and CPR certificate from a WSIB recognized agency (such as, Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance)
  • training in healthy child development (for example, high five’s “Principles of Healthy Child Development”)
  • training on the role of healthy eating for the development of healthy behaviours and one staff at each location must be trained in safe food handling
  • training in adapting physical activity opportunities to include children and youth at all levels of athletic ability and those with physical, sensory or intellectual disability
  • training and familiarity with resources on integrating physical activity throughout the program

Liability insurance

Requirement:

A current certificate of comprehensive general liability for at least $2 million naming “Her Majesty the Queen in right of Ontario, Her Ministers, Agents, Appointees and Employees” as additionally insured.

Licensed child care centres

Licensed child care centres are regulated under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014. Under the Act and its regulations, centres must meet a number of provincial standards including:

  • maximum group size and ratios for staff and children in care
  • staff qualifications
  • policies and procedures to support health, safety and wellbeing of children in care

These regulations also require that licensed child care centres are guided by How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years in the development of their programming for children. Consistent with How does learning happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years, licensed child care centres offering before and after school care are required to provide a minimum of 30 minutes of outdoor time each day in their programming.