Olivia Chow announced another piece of her mayoral platform Tuesday by vowing to create thousands of new spaces at child care centres in Toronto.
During a news conference Tuesday morning, Chow told reporters that she plans to create 3,000 new daycare spaces by building new child care centres in the city. She added that 1,500 of the spaces would be subsidized to make childcare more affordable.
“At the beginning of the campaign I said I would put children and families at the heart of our city,” Chow said.
“I think families need more support… As the new mayor, I would provide that support.”
In order to fund this initiative, Chow said $20 million would come from increased investment from the province and the city would fund an additional $15 million.
During the news conference, Chow also said she would like to create a centralized waiting list for childcare centres.
“Right now, parents have to run around and put their kids on a waiting list at different childcare centres… I know mom and dad are putting their kids’ names on the waiting list when mom is pregnant, before the baby is born,” Chow said.
“If we actually have one centralized waiting list rather than each centre (with) their own waiting list, it will make the waiting less stressful and a lot easier to access the available spaces.”
Tuesday’s announcement adds to the list of family-focused policies Chow has unveiled in recent months.
The mayoral candidate also promised to expand school nutrition programs and afterschool programs.
“I’m creating more services for children and making sure the existing services are more integrated, more flexible, and more effective,” she said.
“I think it is the first duty of a city to provide support to our children.”
