The Ministry of Education (the ministry) has developed this guidance document to support partners in continuing to deliver EarlyON Child and Family Centre (EarlyON Centre) programming during the ongoing COVID‑19 outbreak.

This guidance document is intended to support the following partners:

  • consolidated municipal service managers (CMSMs) and district social service administration boards (DSSABs)
  • EarlyON Centre service providers
  • district school boards

The information found within this guidance document is meant to support the delivery of EarlyON Centre programs and to provide clarification on operating with enhanced health and safety measures. This guidance document 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 and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) and its regulations, and the Ontario Child Care and EarlyON and Child and Family Centres Service Management and Funding Guideline 2022 (2022 guideline). In the event of a conflict between this document and the guideline, this document will prevail. Advice of the local public health unit must be followed, even in the event it is different from the guidance in this 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.

EarlyON Centres are permitted to operate in accordance with the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID‑19) Act 2020 (ROA) and the Roadmap to Reopen, which is the province’s three-step plan to safely and gradually lift public health measures based on ongoing progress of provincewide vaccination rates and improvements of key public health and health care indicators.

CMSMs/DSSABs have the discretion to determine when and where programs will be offered in alignment with the Roadmap to Reopen and in consultation with their local public health unit. EarlyON Centres that are permitted to operate must have enhanced health and safety measures in place.

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

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.

For more information about the operation of Child Care and Before and After School Programs, please refer to the operational guidance for child care during COVID‑19 outbreak and Before and after school kindergarten to grade 6 policies and guidelines. The health and safety guidance aligns with this document, where applicable, and includes program specific guidance as well.

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 early years advisor directly.