Applicant:
An individual, corporation or First Nations representative, including an existing licensee of child care programs, who is applying for a new licence to operate a child care program. Where the applicant is a corporation, the term applies to all directors of the corporation and all individuals with a controlling interest in the corporation.
Base fee: 
Any fee or part of a fee that is charged in respect of a child for child care, including anything a licensee is required to provide under the Regulation or anything a licensee requires the parent to purchase from the licensee, but does not include a non-base fee.
Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System (CWELCC):
The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System for early years and child care funding provided for in an agreement entered into by the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada.
Child:
A person who is younger than 13 years old.
Child Care:
The provision of temporary care for or supervision of children in any circumstance other than in exempt circumstances for a period of less than 24 hours.
Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA):
The legislation that regulates child care in Ontario.
Child Care Licensing System (CCLS):
An online application for child care applicants and licensees to coordinate their applications and licences. On this application, child care applicants and licensees can submit applications, submit licence revision requests, update application and licence information, submit Serious Occurrence Reports (SORs), and more.
Child with Medical Needs: 
A child who has one or more chronic or acute medical conditions such that the child requires additional supports, accommodation, or assistance.
Child with Special Needs: 
A child whose cognitive, physical, social, emotional, or communicative needs, or whose needs relating to overall development, are of such a nature that additional supports are required for the child.
Director:
An employee of the ministry appointed by the Minister of Education as a director for the purposes of the CCEYA. Directors also supervise program advisors.
Important information: Directors on a board of directors for a child care centre (boards of directors can hold a licence) are not the same people as directors appointed by the Minister of Education to issue licences under the CCEYA.
Eligible child (re: CWELCC):
Any child, until the last day of the month in which the child turns six years old, and up until June 30 in a calendar year, any child who, turns six years old between January 1 and June 30 in that calendar year, and is enrolled in a licensed infant, toddler, preschool or kindergarten group, a licensed family age group, or home child care.
Fixed Play Structure:
An outdoor play structure that is anchored to the ground.
Floor plan:
A plan (usually a computer-generated drawing) that includes details of the interior of the child care centre, including designated spaces.
Home Child Care Provider:
The person who provides child care at a premises where home child care is provided.
Individualized Plan:
A written plan that sets out how the licensee will support a child with an anaphylactic allergy, special needs or a child with medical needs that is developed in consultation with parents and other professionals.
Infant:
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is younger than 18 months of age.
In-home Services Provider:
The person in charge of the child(ren)where child care is provided for a child at their own home, or at another place where residential care is provided for the child(ren).
Inspector:
An employee of the ministry appointed by the Minister of Education. Inspectors’ powers and duties are provided under the CCEYA and include the ability to enter and inspect a child care centre, a premise where home child care is provided, and a premise where a home child care agency is located and examine records. Ministry program advisors and investigators have been appointed as inspectors.
Junior School Age Child:
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is 9 years or older, but younger than 13 years of age.
Kindergarten Child: 
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is 44 months of age or older, but younger than 7 years of age.
Licence:
A document issued by the Ministry of Education to a licensee providing the authority to operate a specific child care program. A licence can be regular or provisional.
Licensed age group:
a group of children at a child care centre, where the group is in a specified age category set out in Schedule 1 or 3 for which a licensee is licensed to provide child care at the child care centre, and the terms “licensed infant group”, “licensed toddler group”, and so on, have corresponding meanings.
Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT):
A tribunal to which appeals of certain decisions under the CCEYA may be made.
Licensed capacity:
The maximum number of children, including the number in each age category, allowed to be receiving child care in the child care centre at one time as set out in the licence of the child care centre.
Licensed family age group (also known as a Schedule 4 program):
A group of children, whether or not from the same family, for which a licensee is licensed to provide child care at a child care centre in accordance with section 8.1 of the regulation.
Licensed Child Care Website (LCCW):
An online application where families can search for licensed child care programs. The website provides parents with operational information on the program, such as the program type, address, website, language of service, etc. The website also provides licence and inspection information including any conditions and approvals that may be required of the licensee.
Licensee:
A person (which can be an individual, corporation, First Nation) who holds a licence issued under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014. Once a licence is issued, a licensee may operate a licensed child care program according to the terms set out in their licence and the requirements/rules set out in the CCEYA and its regulations.
Mixed-age grouping:
A licensed age grouping that includes children who are younger than the age range specified in Schedule 1 for that age category (for example, including some children who are younger than 18 months in a toddler group).
Non-base fee:
Any fees charged for optional items or optional services, such as transportation or field trips, or any fees charged pursuant to an agreement that parent and licensee in respect of circumstances where the parent fails to meet the terms of the agreement such as fees for picking up a child late and fees to obtain items that the parent agreed to provide for their child but failed to provide.
Parent:
A person having lawful custody of a child or a person who has demonstrated a settled intention to treat a child as a child of his or her family (All references to parent include legal guardians but will only be referred to as parent in this manual).
Policy:
A policy sets out a rule(s) that staff and others in a centre need to follow. Policy statements address what the rule is rather than how to implement or comply with the rule/requirement.
Preschool child:
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is 30 months or older, but younger than 6 years of age.
Primary/junior school age child: 
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is 68 months of age or older, but younger than 13 years of age.
Procedure:
A procedure is different from, but related to, a policy. A procedure is an established, predetermined set of instructions on how to perform tasks that must be completed to achieve something.
Program advisor:
An employee of the Ministry of Education who is authorized under the CCEYA to inspect licensed child care programs. Program advisors support licensees and applicants to achieve and maintain compliance with licensing requirements and respond to complaints and serious occurrences reported about and by child care programs. Program advisors are designated inspectors under the Act.
Qualified employee/staff:
  • For any licensed age group : An employee who is a member in good standing of the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE), or otherwise approved by a ministry director.
  • For a licensed primary/junior and licensed junior school age group in addition to a member in good standing with CECE or otherwise approved by a director, an employee who has a diploma or degree in child and youth care or recreation and leisure services or a member in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers, is also a qualified employee for this age group.

Important Information: the words staff and employee mean the same thing in both O. Reg. 137/15 and this manual.

Record:
Unless otherwise specified in O. Reg. 137/15, any record, report or other document required under this regulation, or any other regulation made under the CCEYA, may be made or kept in either a hard copy or electronic format.
Relative:
With respect to a child, a person who is the child’s parent, sibling, grandparent, great-uncle, great-aunt, uncle, aunt, cousin, whether by blood, through a spousal relationship or through adoption.
Resource consultant:
A person who meets the qualification requirements set out in section 55 of O. Reg. 137/15 and supports program staff/providers and parents in working with children with special needs who attend licensed child care.
Separate sleeping area:
An area used for sleep, separated from any play activity area (For example, separated by a structure, divider or wall that is fixed to the ground).
Service system manager: 
A municipality or DSSAB designated by the regulations as a service system manager under the CCEYA. Each service system manager has responsibility for planning and managing the operation of a broad range of child care services, including fee subsidy, wage subsidy, and special needs resourcing at the local level.
Site plan:
A plan (that is a computer-generated drawing) of the entire site of the child care centre showing details such as location, entrance(s), access to the outdoor play space (playground) and details about the outdoor play space (such as location of gates, fence height).
Supervisor:
A person who plans and directs the program of a child care centre, is in charge of children, oversees staff and is responsible to the licensee. This person must meet qualifications set out in section 53 of O. Reg. 137/15 and must be approved by a Ministry of Education director.
Toddler:
For the purposes of interpreting the age groupings under Schedule 1 or 4 of O. Reg. 137/15, a child who is 18 months or older, but younger than 30 months of age.
“Unless otherwise approved by a director”
This is a phrase that is used in some requirements in O. Reg. 137/15. The shorthand way the ministry refers to this is director approval.
This phrase means that, even though there is a requirement in the regulation about something in particular, there may be circumstances where that requirement could be met in a different way. The regulation will specify if a licensee can ask for director approval to do something that is an alternative or modified approach to meeting the requirement as set out in the regulation. All requests for director approvals need to be made directly to the program advisor assigned to the licensee through CCLS.
Important Information: anytime the CCEYA or its regulations say “every licensee shall…” the word shall means must or is required to.