The London-Middlesex Child Care and Early Years Service System Plan serves as a road map for child care and early years planning, providing a picture of current services and opportunities for growth throughout the area between 2024-2028. The Plan was developed based on extensive engagement, feedback and data.
Service System Plan: Annual Progress Reports
Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement
The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement is a transformational investment in affordable licensed child care for families across our communities. Families with children under 6 years of age in a participating CWELCC-enrolled licensed child care centre or home-agency have access to reduced child care fees for CWELCC eligible age groups.
Licensed child care providers must let parents and staff know whether or not they are participating in the CWELCC System.
Application for CWELCC enrollment in London-Middlesex is conducted through a Directed Growth plan process that will be posted here on the City of London’s website.
CWELCC Directed Growth strategy
Purpose of Directed Growth of the CWELCC program
The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) is a federal-provincial initiative introduced in 2022 to make child care more affordable and accessible for families across Canada. CWELCC expansion across all of Ontario aims to create 86,000 net new licensed child care spaces by the end of 2026 as part of this initiative.
The Ministry of Education has recently advised us that in addition to the growth already achieved since 2022, additional child care spaces are now available for CWELCC enrollment within London and Middlesex County under our Directed Growth Plan targets.
Read more on our Directed Growth Call-Out page.
Role of the Service System Manager
The City of London is designated as the Service System Manager (SSM) of Licensed Child Care and Early Years for the City of London and County of Middlesex.
As part of the Directed Growth Plan and in partnership with the County of Middlesex, the SSM:
- Uses established data and criteria to assess alignment with local service system priorities for increasing access to the CWELCC program; and
- Provides advice to the Ministry of Education during the child care licensing process on the likely CWELCC eligibility of new licensed child care spaces.
Note: The City of London and the County of Middlesex do not approve child care licences. Licensing is managed by the Ministry of Education.
Note: Advice provided to the Ministry of Education on likely CWELCC eligibility does not guarantee funding.
London-Middlesex CWELCC Appeal Process
Licensees (or individuals/organizations seeking to become a Licensee) that do not agree with a decision made by the SSM related to CWELCC (i.e., eligibility to enroll, funding levels, etc.) have the option to utilize the London-Middlesex CWELCC Appeal Process.
Appeals must be submitted in writing, including via email, no sooner than 24 hours after the CWELCC-related decision is released, and no later than 10 business days after receipt of notification of the CWELCC-related decision.
The details of this process are set out below:
Licensees seeking to appeal a CWELCC-related decision can send an email (ChildrensServicesAdmin@london.ca) or written letter to the Director, Child Care and Early Years at the City of London (355 Wellington St., Suite 248, P.O. Box 5045, London ON N6A 3N7).
The appeal request should include the decision being appealed, the reason for the appeal, and any supporting information.
- Appeals will be reviewed by CCEY staff, who may request a meeting with the Licensee or individual/organization during the appeal process.
- Licensees or individuals/organizations will be advised of the outcome of the appeal in writing within 10 days of the appeal submission date (being the date that the SSM received notification of the appeal).
- Final decisions regarding CWELCC eligibility rest with the SSM.
Neighbourhood Profiles