Bruce County Council received an update from their Human Services team about child care in the region.
Director of Human Services, Tina Metcalfe, shared the update with council about how things such as recruitment and filling the need for affordable child care has been going.
Metcalfe shared some of the key accomplishments, particularly related to inclusion, such as more than 1,000 participated in the Ages and Stages development screening program. Staff had also partnered with Queen’s University to analyze data to support early intervention planning.
“On average, at any given time, 144 children in licensed childcare programs were supported by the Bruce County resource consultants.”
County staff continues to see an increase in demand.
According to the report, in 2024, there were 1,882 total applications for licensed childcare. The county has also been working to help families with the child care fee subsidy.
“The OneList waitlist system saw an increase in applications, highlighting the increased demand for licensed child care that is now more affordable,” said Metcalfe.
To support the recruitment of early childhood educators, Bruce County continued its partnerships with Georgian College and Fanshawe College to provide awards for eligible ECE students.
In 2024, 34 students received the Bruce County Early Childhood Education Award, which is a maximum of $4,000 per student.