The Ontario government is expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive emergency child care. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says these heroes work day-in and day-out to ensure everyone else can stay home and stay safe and healthy so the least we can do is ensure the safety of their children.
The additional frontline workers who can now access emergency childcare services include:
- Staff working in developmental services, victim services, violence against women services, anti-human trafficking services and child welfare services (children’s aid societies) and in children’s residential settings;
- Additional staff identified by the Ministry of the Solicitor General, including:
- First Nations constables;
- Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management fire investigators;
- Select critical staff in community corrections, such as probation and parole officers;
- Contractors in institutional corrections services;
- Frontline staff at the Provincial Forensic Pathology Unit;
- Critical staff at the Centre of Forensic Sciences; and
- Critical staff operating the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.
- Staff working in shelters (e.g., serving homeless populations);
- Power workers;
- Pharmaceutical and medical supplies and device manufacturing workers;
- Non-municipal water and waste-water employees; and
- Federally employed staff including Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers and Canada Post employees.
Ontario will continue to monitor local needs to ensure frontline staff can continue to work and will communicate more details as the situation evolves.
A list of emergency child care centres is available online here: Ontario.ca/coronavirus.
