Child Care and Early Years System Planning Advisory Group
The mandate of the Child Care and Early Years System Planning Advisory Group is to provide advice and guidance to the City of Ottawa on the planning and management of a high quality, affordable, accessible, and inclusive child care and early years system in Ottawa for all children and families. For more information, please contact childrensservices@ottawa.ca.
Child Care Registry and Waitlist
The Child Care Registry and Waitlist is an online, centralized application used by parents to find and register for licensed child care in Ottawa. Parents can also apply for help to pay for their child care costs (fee subsidy). It is also used by child care providers to effectively manage their waitlists for both full fee and subsidized child care. Families can access the list of providers that have opted-in to the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) System through the Child Care Registry and Waitlist Application (CCRAW).
If you are a new licensed child care service provider in Ottawa and would like to add a profile of your child care agency to the Child Care Registry and Waitlist, please email childrensservices@ottawa.ca.
Planning and research
- Ottawa Neighbourhood Study: Provides data on strengths and challenges for each neighbourhood in Ottawa. Compare neighbourhoods on child care services, social services, food resources, determinants of health, and more.
- geoOttawa: Find out which child care facilities are in your neighbourhood. Search by address, intersection, street segment or by facility. Interact with this web-based software by zooming in and out, by adding additional layers of information or by printing a current view of the map.
Starting / opening a licensed child care centre
To find out how to set up a licensed child care program in Ontario, prospective child care service providers can visit the Ministry of Education website.
Start and operate a not-for-profit
For information about applicable laws, as well as grants and financial support available to not-for-profits, go to the Ontario government web site.
Individuals with special needs
The Ministry of Education, through the City of Ottawa, provides funding for programs including individuals with special needs.
Providers are encouraged to work with Children’s Services to develop a plan to ensure eligible children who receive fee subsidy and children with special needs have access to child care programs between September 1, 2022, and January 1, 2025. For more information, email childrensservices@ottawa.ca.
Children's Inclusion Support Services provides supports, in English and in French, to licensed child care programs (nursery schools, child care centres and home child care agencies) that include children with special needs, between 6 weeks to 10 years of age, within the City of Ottawa. The services provided by CISS include:
- Consultation support through various consultant roles
- Enhanced staff support funding
- Professional development opportunities
- A newsletter for operators/parents/guardians
- Toys, equipment, DVDs
- Reference books
Quick links and resources
Key information