Licenced Centres/ Nursery Schools/Ontario Early Years Centres

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• may be in a freestanding building or a separate facility within a school or community centre
• are licenced by the Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services and must meet requirements set out in the Day Nurseries Act and Regulation. They include staff/child ratios, staff qualifications, maximum group size, safety, discipline, nutrition, furnishings and equipment
• offer group care in a specially designed setting for infants and children up to the age of 12
• trained/experienced staff
• offer full day & part-time options including, nursery school, before and after school and school break programs
• are usually open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. but may have extended hours
• must comply with legislated staff/child ratios which vary by age:
  • Infants: 1 staff : 3 children
  • Toddlers: 1 : 5
  • Pre-school: 1 : 8
  • School age: 1 : 15

Home Based Care

• children are cared for in the private residence of the caregiver
• the home may be supervised by an Agency that is licenced by MCSS or they may be an unlicenced, independent caregiver. In both situations the hours, mix of ages and availability of special needs care will vary from home to home

Licenced Home-Based Agency

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• caregivers registered with a licenced agency and receive support, training and supervision
• homes visited a minimum of once every 3 months by agency and monitored for health, safety, and age-appropriate programming
• caregivers have current medical requirements and all family members over 18 have criminal reference checks

Unlicenced/Independent Home Care

• are expected to comply with the Day Nurseries Act and Regulation stipulating there can be no more than 5 children in care under the age of 10, at any one time, not including the caregiver's children
• caregiver not supervised or monitored

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