Ontario Construction News staff writer
An emergency child-care program offered to some groups of front-line workers during the first week of January amid school closures has been expanded yet again to include Ontario construction and transit workers.
In a statement, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education said starting today, construction workers permitted to continue working during the lockdown along with transit workers are eligible for the emergency program in Toronto, York Region and Peel.
“While students in many parts of the province are returning or have returned to in-person learning, students in Toronto, York Region and Peel will be returning to class one week later, on Feb. 16,” Lecce said. “During this period of remote learning, our government is supporting these key workers by ensuring their children are well cared for.”
The emergency child-care program provides front-line workers and their families with no-cost childcare options while schools were closed to in-person learning. Once schools reopen, regular before-and-after-school child-care programs will resume.
“For working families around the province, this means that they will be able to return to work knowing their child’s learning and development is continuing in classrooms safely, with new measures in place to protect students and staff. Learning in class, alongside friends and teachers, is crucial for the mental health, development, and long-term success of students,” Lecce said.
The childcare program expansion is intended to support frontline workers and their families with childcare options, at no cost, in regions where students continue to learn remotely.
New additions to the list of those eligible for emergency childcare:
- In the construction sector: individuals who work for a business that undertakes construction activities or projects and related services, including land surveying and demolition services, that are permitted to be open under section 43 of Schedule 2 of O. Reg. 82/20 of the Reopening Ontario Act.
- In the transportation sector: employees of a municipal transit agency, Metrolinx or the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, who support a function that cannot be done through remote work arrangements.
Access to emergency childcare services in the public health units of York Region, Toronto and Peel will end on Friday, February 12, 2021, in advance of the return to in-person learning on Feb. 16.