How to Find a Local Daycare Service

When returning to work, parents often have to ensure available daycare services for their children. There are several types of child care services available – deciding which is best suited for your family is the first step!

Types of Child Care

Licensed Child Care Centers: These facilities can include full-day care, extended hours care, nursery schools, and before/after school care. These facilities can operate in schools, community centers, places of worship, and workplaces.

These centers are government-regulated, inspected annually by the Ministry of Education, and are staffed with professionals trained in Early Childhood Education. Licensed child care centers often have children placed with others in their specific age group, have access to activities designed for their capabilities, and can have opportunities for subsidies. 

Licensed Home Child Care: These are government-regulated, privately-run home child care providers who can offer similar services to those provided by licensed centers.

Licensed home child care centers are contracted by home health care agencies licensed by the Ministry of Education. These providers care for children ages infant to school age and can provide full-day, part-day, or before/after school care – depending on what that specific caregiver offers. 

Unlicensed Child Care: These child care providers offer full-day, part-time, or before/after school care for children from infancy to school age. These providers can include babysitters and nannies.

These providers are not licensed, regulated or monitored by the government or government-regulated agencies. However, there are applicable laws – such as unlicensed child care providers are not permitted to care for more than five children under the age of six (dependant on the number of caretakers employed) and are not permitted to operate out of more than one location.

Before You Enroll

While deciding which type of child care works best for your family, it is important to consider location, cost comparisons, eligibility for government support/subsidies, and any potential specialized service requirements or accessibility needs. 

Once you have decided on the type of child care that works best for your family, you can then decide on a provider! Often, parents can reach providers by phone, email, or in-person to begin the registration process. 

Find Local Child Care Services Near Me