After-school funding is broken. 💔

Campaign Update

October 20, 2023

The Government of Ontario announced a modest funding increase of $1.1 million to Ontario’s After School Program.

This is a promising start, but we want to see them go further as after-school care costs remain high, and waitlists remain long. Moms Together will continue to advocate for affordable, high-quality care — provincially and nationally.

Read our feature on CBC here!

Funding Flatline

Ontario’s After School Program was introduced in 2009 to enable after school care providers to create safe and affordable programs for kids across the province - funding has flatlined since its inception, leading parents to struggle finding adequate affordable care.

Waitlists for afterschool programs are growing with many programs facing potential cancellation, or already closing their doors, due to lack of funding. This is particularly offensive while our government sits on a multi-billion dollar surplus.

Bottom line is, the erosion of funding for after school care isn’t good for our children, our families, or the government. We demand better for our kids.

Tell Your Story

We need you to take to social media and spread the message that after-school funding is broken and we are demanding better! Select your platform of choice below and tag our account in a post.

Tell the world about your experiences with after care, wait lists, and how your family has been affected.

  • Leah, Toronto

    "My son was enrolled in an after school program until we were told he could no longer attend because they couldn't afford the staff to support his accommodations. Now my family has to juggle work schedules, causing stress, fatigue, and disconnection at work and at home. Access to after school care would open many more opportunities to our family and improve our mental and physical health."

  • Roxanne, Toronto

    “I recently moved my son to a more affordable aftercare program. I received a notice from the after school provider right away that the fees were going up and that's a huge stress for our family. We are expecting a baby any day and are counting on these savings to help us get through parental leave on a reduced income.”

  • Kate, Burlington

    “I started applying for aftercare for my first kid in March 2019 when my son was moving from daycare to JK. I now have two kids and in 2022 we had one child with a secured spot in aftercare and another child that had to come home. I had to renegotiate my work from home hours to try and make it work. Currently, one has a spot full time but the other only has a spot three days a week. Sadly this story is common at our school and it's coming at the cost of working mothers.”

  • Morgan, Toronto

    “My kid is now in grade 5 and we have been on the wait list for the only after school program at their school since BEFORE jk. I'm a single mom. I've managed by hiring a babysitter/nanny until covid when the kid stayed home with me. Then by flexing my work day so I could be home after school, and now by letting my kid stay home alone before and after school. Absolutely has been a huge source of stress over the years.”

Stagnant provincial funding threatens after-school care for low-income families

“An additional investment of $40.5M annually would cover 100% of the overall costs of running the program, meeting the initial intention of the investment.”

Parents struggle as waitlists for before and after school programs grow

“If I don’t get before and after care for my child, I can’t work.”

Media Inquiries

Please, send us a message if you are curious about our campaign or want to feature our work in your publication.