Parents with children in licensed child care will be shielded from fee increases when Ontario’s minimum wage rises to $14 in January, the Star has learned.

In a letter to municipalities last week, education ministry officials confirmed $12.7 million in new funding will be available to help licensed child-care centres and home child-care agencies cover added costs related to the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.

It means daycares won’t have to pass on those costs to parents and risk further destabilizing cash-strapped programs.

The new workplace law, passed this week, will boost the minimum wage from $11.60 to $14 on Jan. 1, and to $15 the following year. It will also provide two paid, job-protected sick days for all workers and increase holiday entitlement, among other improvements.

“We know there are going to be increasing operating pressures on child-care operators,” said Indira Naidoo-Harris, the minister responsible for child care who last summer vowed to transform the system by making it more affordable and accessible for parents.

“We recognize (new workplace legislation) could lead to increases in fees,” she said in an interview. “We want to put in place some pieces that will support improving wages, affordability and address those potential fee increases.”

The funding will help support workers in licensed child-care programs currently making less than $14 an hour, Naidoo-Harris said. It is in addition to the $2-per-hour wage-enhancement grant and home child-care grant and will be available to all licensed child-care operators and licensed home child-care agencies, she added.

“This fund is totally necessary,” said Lyndsay Macdonald of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario. “We don’t want to see centres close and we don’t want to see parent fees go even higher.”

Almost one-quarter of registered early childhood educators working in licensed daycares currently earn less than $15 an hour, she noted.

Parent fees in Ontario are among the highest in the country with median monthly fees in Toronto topping $1,649 for infants, $1,375 for toddlers and $1,150 for preschoolers.

“It’s good use of public funds. And it signals the current government is very committed to their renewed policy framework and to meeting its transformative goals,” Macdonald said.

Toronto parent and early childhood educator Munizah Salman also welcomed the new provincial cash.

“Parents can’t afford higher fees,” she said. “So this is good for parents.”

Salman, who is studying for a Master’s degree in early childhood, said the increased minimum wage is also a boon to child-care workers.

Earlier this week, parents rallied at Queen’s Park to demand a $10 cap on daily daycare fees. Advocacy group ACORN Canada, which organized the protest, says affordable child care is key to reducing poverty in Ontario.

Other caring fields dominated by low-wage female workers have not received the same financial help from Queen’s Park.

Cathy Taylor of the Ontario Non-profit Network, said her group supports the new legislation and the decent work practices it embraces.

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But the sector, which employs more than one million people and forms the backbone of the province’s social infrastructure, is concerned about the economic impact of implementing the changes at a time when many agencies have had budgets flat-lined for more than a decade, she said.

In his recent economic update, Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s committed to work with “those in the broader public sector and the not-for-profit sector, to help ensure they successfully manage the transition.”

However Taylor said she has yet to see any action.

“We are counting on our funders and on government to think about how they can support those costs,” she said.

Individuals with developmental disabilities and their families who receive provincial funding to hire support workers to provide respite or accompany loved ones to community activities are also looking for help from Queen’s Park.

Families who hire workers at the minimum wage will be required to pay them $14 per hour come Jan. 1, noted Chris Beesley, of Community Living Ontario, which helps more than 12,000 individuals and their families.

“There will be a jarring realization for many parents who are already in crisis and who rely on government funding,” he said.

“In a few weeks’ time, they will see a 25 per cent reduction in the number of hours of support for their sons and daughters due to the increases to minimum wage, public holiday and vacation pay, and other changes they may not be aware of,” Beesley said in a statement.

About 3 per cent of staff working for developmental service agencies make below $15 an hour, according to the ministry of community and social services.

“We appreciate that (the legislation’s) significant benefits are also not without some associated costs,” said ministry spokesman Graeme Dempster.

“We are committed to working with our delivery partners and families to help ensure they successfully manage the transition,” he added.