Child Care & Early Years Service System Plan


The City of Kingston plays a primary role in childcare and early years services in the City of Kingston and Frontenac County.

In accordance with the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, the City must develop a 5-Year Service Plan for licensed child care and early years programs and services for children 0-12 years and their families. The Service Plan will be reflective of the community’s identified needs and provide a system-wide response to established priorities.

Background

The Child Care and Early Years Services (CEYS) team at the City is leading the development of the 2025-2029 Child Care and Early Years Service System Plan to highlight local child care priorities and establish a roadmap to achieve local and system goals while supporting children, families and providers across the region in the City of Kingston and the County of Frontenac. This initiative is designed to align local needs and priorities, while meeting the priorities set forth by provincial frameworks.

A full summary of engagement and work to date can be found below.

Child Care in Kingston-Frontenac

  • In June 2025, there were 34 licensed Child Care operators that deliver a combined 86 programs! There are approximately 4,000 licensed spaces in licensed Centre-based, School-age programs and Home Child Care programs across Kingston-Frontenac

  • According to the College of Early Childhood Educators, as of March 2025 there were 655 Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) members in good standing working within Kingston-Frontenac

  • In 2024, there were 39,271 visits made by 4,321 unique children aged 0-6 to Kingston-Frontenac EarlyON Child and Family Programs

  • Child Care and Early Years Services’ Fee Subsidy program served an average of 467 children per month in 2024 with more than 30% of the children served enrolled in School-age programs

Get Involved

As we work to develop a final draft of the plan, we are seeking input from the community on 5 CEYS priority areas:

  • Workforce Strategy & Professional Development

  • Strategic Partnerships & Advocacy

  • System Access & Equity

  • Operator Support & Capacity

  • Data Monitoring, Reporting & Accountability

Take the survey below before September 30 at 11:59 p.m. Email GetInvolved@CityofKingston.ca or call 613-546-0000 for an alternate format of the survey.

La version français du sondage est disponible ici.


The City of Kingston plays a primary role in childcare and early years services in the City of Kingston and Frontenac County.

In accordance with the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, the City must develop a 5-Year Service Plan for licensed child care and early years programs and services for children 0-12 years and their families. The Service Plan will be reflective of the community’s identified needs and provide a system-wide response to established priorities.

Background

The Child Care and Early Years Services (CEYS) team at the City is leading the development of the 2025-2029 Child Care and Early Years Service System Plan to highlight local child care priorities and establish a roadmap to achieve local and system goals while supporting children, families and providers across the region in the City of Kingston and the County of Frontenac. This initiative is designed to align local needs and priorities, while meeting the priorities set forth by provincial frameworks.

A full summary of engagement and work to date can be found below.

Child Care in Kingston-Frontenac

  • In June 2025, there were 34 licensed Child Care operators that deliver a combined 86 programs! There are approximately 4,000 licensed spaces in licensed Centre-based, School-age programs and Home Child Care programs across Kingston-Frontenac

  • According to the College of Early Childhood Educators, as of March 2025 there were 655 Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) members in good standing working within Kingston-Frontenac

  • In 2024, there were 39,271 visits made by 4,321 unique children aged 0-6 to Kingston-Frontenac EarlyON Child and Family Programs

  • Child Care and Early Years Services’ Fee Subsidy program served an average of 467 children per month in 2024 with more than 30% of the children served enrolled in School-age programs

Get Involved

As we work to develop a final draft of the plan, we are seeking input from the community on 5 CEYS priority areas:

  • Workforce Strategy & Professional Development

  • Strategic Partnerships & Advocacy

  • System Access & Equity

  • Operator Support & Capacity

  • Data Monitoring, Reporting & Accountability

Take the survey below before September 30 at 11:59 p.m. Email GetInvolved@CityofKingston.ca or call 613-546-0000 for an alternate format of the survey.

La version français du sondage est disponible ici.

  • Engagement to Date

    Targeted Engagement

    The plan will incorporate input from families, service providers, school boards and community partners. Optimus SBR has engaged with key stakeholders to reflect on what's working well and celebrate successes, as well as discuss challenges and strategic solutions in supporting positive outcomes for young children in our community. This has included:

    • Discovery interviews with internal staff who lead childcare and early years (CEYS) programs

    • Focus groups with members of the front-line CEYS team

    • Focus groups with Francophone partners

    • Focus groups with early years and child care service providers, including a leadership session and front-line session

    • Community engagement sessions with staff supporting licensed child care for children aged 0-5 years, Before and After School Programs, EarlyON Child and Family programs, Indigenous early years programs and Special Needs Resourcing programs

    In addition to direct engagement, the City will also consider data from Kingston’s Knowing Our Numbers report, a research study conducted through the University of Toronto that produced a Kingston-specific analysis of the Early Childhood Educator workforce, as well as in Ontario.

    As part of regular engagement with parents and caregivers, the annual Child Care and Early Years Program Survey provided critical feedback in 2024 from 546 parents and guardians in the Kingston-Frontenac area.

    Background on Child Care and Early Years Program Survey

    The City of Kingston conducted this survey to provide local families with the opportunity to assess various aspects of their child care program, including child engagement, program quality, communication, nutrition, affordability, inclusivity, and overall satisfaction.

    Responses were used to identify strengths and areas for improvement, and to guide future planning and enhancements.

    What We Heard: 2024 Child Care and Early Years Program Survey

    In November 2024, 546 participants provided responses to the Child Care and Early Years Program Survey.

    The feedback received from parents and caregivers reflects a high level of overall satisfaction with the child care centre programs in the region, particularly in areas of communication, staff engagement, and diverse activities for children.

    While most parents / caregivers feel positively about their experience, there are opportunities for improvement in communication clarity, meal variety, and accessibility of staff during drop-off times. There are also areas to improve within the overall service system, such as better understanding and increased support for the City’s child care registry system (waitlist), support for the addition of more child care spaces, advocating for better wages for child care staff and options for alternative hours and/or extended hours to support various work schedules.


Page last updated: 16 Sep 2025, 04:28 PM