Immediate Safety Measures for Child Care Centres

Ministry of Education

Minister

315 Front Street West
Toronto ON M7A 0B8
 

September 15, 2025

Good afternoon,

Following the tragic incident at a child care centre in Richmond Hill last week, our government is proposing immediate changes to better safeguard children and staff in child care centres across the province.

Effective immediately:

  • All licensed child care centres in Ontario are to prevent the use of parking spaces that pose a risk to children’s safety: Any parking spaces that are directly adjacent to child care facilities (e.g., entryways, playgrounds, exterior walls of program rooms, windows, or areas where children gather), with the exception of accessible spaces, should be blocked off and not used until additional safety measures have been put in place. You may wish to use pylons, signage, temporary barriers or staff vehicles to block these parking spaces and keep them inaccessible during the hours of child care operation. Where a purpose-built vehicle barrier is already installed and provides sufficient protection, these adjacent parking spaces may continue to be used. This applies to all child care facilities with the exception of those located in private residences.
     
  • All licensees are to speak to their landlord: Where you do not control the parking spaces adjacent to your facility, you are to connect with your landlord immediately and discuss the measures that can be put in place to better protect children at your centre.

We expect all licensees to make every effort to implement these safety measures promptly. If there are other areas of your child care facility that may pose a possible risk, such as located near driveways or roundabouts, please use your best judgement to assess and determine if additional safety measures may be needed.

My ministry will be working to identify any vulnerabilities and take necessary actions that may include requiring permanent safety barriers, such as bollards, planters, elevated curbs and other physical infrastructure, to be installed in high-risk areas directly adjacent to early years settings.

We recognize that implementation of a requirement like this may be challenging in some circumstances due to the physical layout of your space, lease provisions, or municipal by-laws. We are actively exploring all options to make it as easy as possible for licensees to install these barriers. This includes any necessary legislative or regulatory changes to remove municipal or landlord restrictions that currently prevent the installation of protective barriers.

Our goal is to ensure that every child care centre can enhance the safety of their facility without encountering unnecessary opposition. If you come across any resistance or obstacles, I ask that you please report this to the ministry and we will work with you to address it.

We will provide more guidance and information as it becomes available. If you have questions or concerns about the immediate measures, please contact the Child Care Helpdesk at childcare_ontario@ontario.ca.

Thank you for your continued commitment to ensuring safety across our child care system.

Sincerely,

 

The Honourable Paul Calandra
Minister of Education