This guidance document is intended to support the following child care and early years sector partners:

  • consolidated municipal service managers (CMSMs) and district social service administration boards (DSSABs)
  • child care centre licensees and staff
  • home child care agencies and providers
  • district school boards

This guidance document is meant to support partners in meeting requirements set out under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) and the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID‑19) Act, 2020, to provide clarification on operating child care programs with enhanced health and safety guidelines and/or restrictions in place. The guidance provided has been developed in consultation with the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and will be modified as applicable when these restrictions can be lifted and/or amended to reflect new advice at that time.

This guidance document has been designed for use in conjunction with the Child Care Centre and Home Child Care Agency Licensing Manuals, the CCEYA and its regulations. In the event of a conflict between this document and the licensing manuals, this document will prevail. Advice of the local public health unit must be followed, even in the event that it is different from this guidance document.

The information found within this guidance document is intended to represent the minimum recommendations of the Ministry of Education. Child care and early years sector partners may, particularly at the advice of their local public health unit, choose to implement additional measures based on local circumstances.

On September 1, 2020, child care and early years programs were permitted to return to maximum group sizes as set out under the CCEYA (such as licensed age groups prior to the COVID‑19 outbreak). All child care settings must continue to operate with enhanced health and safety measures in place, including the use of medical masks or N95 masks (can be non-fit-tested) and eye protection (for example, face shield or goggles) for all staff/providers.

As always, the top priority for the ministry is the health and safety of the children and child care staff/providers. We will continue to monitor the COVID‑19 closely and revise this guidance, as needed, in consultation with the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

The ministry is requesting school boards, consolidated municipal service managers/district social services administration boards and child care partners, in collaboration with local public health units, work together to ensure full-day licensed child care programs located in schools are able to operate with these measures in place. The ministry understands that district school board protocols may differ from those of licensed child care and recommends that partners work together to align protocols where needed (such as in a shared space). To support consistency for children and families, the ministry has revised this guidance document, where possible, to align with the provincial COVID‑19: health, safety and operational guidance for schools (2021-2022) as well as the information at the COVID‑19: health and safety measures at schools web page.

While the focus of this guidance document is on the health, safety, and operational measures that are required in order to operate child care as safely as possible, please note that every effort should continue to be made to uphold the welcoming and caring environment that child care provides for children and families. More information regarding the early years pedagogy, including helpful resources can be found on the ministry website. The ministry has also created a guidance document with ideas on how to provide an engaging environment while physically distancing: Building On How Does Learning Happen?

Before and After School Programs are also permitted to operate for the 2021-22 school year. Please refer to the 2021-22 before and after school Kindergarten to Grade 6 policies and guidelines for more information. The health and safety guidance aligns with this document, where applicable, and includes program specific guidance as well. Information about EarlyON child and family centres can be found on the ministry website.

The Early Years portal contains a wealth of information to help licensees, staff and home child care providers understand the requirements of the CCEYA and its regulations.

You may wish to visit the provincial COVID‑19 website regularly for current information, as well as the Public Health Ontario public resources page for information to help stop the spread, find sector specific resources, including helpful posters, mental health resources, and other information.

If you have further questions or require clarification, please contact your Ministry of Education program advisor directly or contact the Licensed Child Care Unit at information.met@ontario.ca.