Canada

A Toronto daycare that signed on to the national childcare program is now in such financial difficulty that its board is considering closure, a plight that advocates say reveals flaws in how Ontario funds the system.

Sunnyside Garden Daycare, a non-profit that serves nearly 150 children in Toronto's west end, is appealing to the province and city for emergency funding to stave off a shutdown by the end of the year.

Ontario's funding model — in place since the province agreed to join the national program in 2022 — has had "devastating consequences" for the daycare centre, says Wannan in the letter, a copy of which was provided to CBC News.

She says without an infusion of cash, its board will have to choose between dropping out of the program or shutting down.

Carolyn Ferns, policy co-ordinator of the advocacy group Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, says Sunnyside Garden's situation is not unique.