While YMCA Before & After School programs are closed, free emergency child care will be available to school-aged children of eligible essential service workers only and registration is available through your municipality. To see if you qualify for this emergency service, please refer to the province's list of eligible individuals..

To Register:

Peel Region
Visit Peel Region Child Care.

Halton Region
Email jen.marchand@ymcagta.org.

Dufferin County
Visit: Dufferin County Emergency Child Care.

York Region
Visit: York Region Emergency Child Care.

Durham Region
Visit Durham Region Emergency Child Care.

Toronto
Visit Toronto Emergency Child Care.

The following YMCA GTA locations are currently offering emergency child care & registration is available through your local municipality. To see a full list of emergency child care operators/locations, please refer to your municipal website.

Peel region:

• Brampton Our Lady of Peace
• Brampton Russell Barber
• Bolton Holy Family
• Mississauga St Catherine of Siena
• Mississauga Credit Valley

Halton region:

• St Brigid YMCA

Dufferin region:

• Orangeville Credit Meadows

York region:

• Dr Roberta Bondar YMCA Child Care
• Mazo De La Roche Junior Y
• Oscar Peterson YMCA Child Care

Durham region:

• YMCA Beaverton
• YMCA Dr Emily Stowe
• YMCA Dr G J MacGillivray
• YMCA Joseph Gould
• YMCA St Leo
• YMCA St Wilfrid
• YMCA Waverly
• YMCA St Kateri

City of Toronto:

• Holy Trinity YMCA
• Maryvale Jr YMCA
• McGregor Jr YMCA
• Morrish Jr YMCA
• Norseman School Age Program (YMCA)
• Our Lady of Sorrows School Age YMCA
• Alexander Muir Gladstone Jr YMCA
• Chester Jr YMCA
• Elkhorn Junior Y – (YMCA)
• George Webster Jr YMCA
• St. Jerome Jr YMCA
• Port Royal YMCA
• St Columba YMCA
• St Rose of Lima YMCA
• Family Development Centre YMCA

YMCA Child Care centres began reopening on July 6, 2020.

We are holding our child care fees at this time to the same rates as prior to the closure of our programs on March 16, 2020.

Yes. Beginning September 1, 2020, our child care programs have been operating at full capacity. This means all programs now have the same number of available spaces that existed in March 2020. Even though our capacity restrictions have let up, our strict safety measures have not. To learn more about the YMCA’s revised health and safety measures, please see our YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook Guidelines for COVID-19 document or watch this short video.

As of September 1, 2020, child care and Before & After School programs have been operating at full licensed capacity.

New health and safety measures for child care operators have been outlined in the Ministry of Education’s Operational Guidance during COVID-19 document in consultation with local public health units. To learn more about the YMCA’s revised health and safety measures please see the YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook for COVID-19 or watch this short video.

Before entering a centre, all children and staff are asked questions provided by Public Health that are designed to screen for illness. Screening practices in place at each program are based on the local Public Health unit recommendations.

As of September 1, 2020, all YMCA child care staff are required to wear a mask and face shield or goggles while indoors. Masks and face shields or goggles are not required when eating, during physical activity, or outdoors if physical distancing of 2-meters can be maintained between individuals.

The wearing of medical-grade face masks in child care centres is mandated by the Ministry of Health and Regional Public Health experts. It is not ideal in terms of language development, but the health and safety of children and staff is our first priority. Our child care workers are creative, caring professionals who will ensure high quality programming under these restrictions.

Not at this time. The medical-grade face masks our staff are mandated to wear are issued by the Ministry of Education.

We follow all guidance regarding mask wearing provided by the Ministry of Education and local Public Health Units. As of July 12, 2021, these guidelines state:

• Children under the age of 2 must never wear a mask
• Children 2 years old to Senior Kindergarten are not required to wear a mask while indoors or outdoors
• Children in grades 1 and above are required to wear a non-medical mask while indoors but are not required to wear a mask outdoors
• All children may remove their mask while eating

Please note:

• Families are responsible for providing their children with masks
• Children will never be forced to wear a mask
• Children not able to tolerate wearing a mask for reasons related to mental health, disability, or a medical issue (i.e. asthma, allergies, etc.) will not be required to wear one
• Families are not required to provide a doctor’s note as proof of condition for their child not wearing a mask

As regulations continues to evolve, the YMCA will follow the guidance of local public health units, the Ministry of Education, and local school board guidelines. As their safety protocols evolve, so will the measures we take at our centres.

A core principle of our two curricula, YMCA Playing to Learn and YMCA A Place to Connect, is learning in small groups. Children in our programs are placed into small groups and will remain within the same group, and with the same staff member, throughout the day. In addition, our curricula has been updated to place an emphasis on increasing programming time outdoors. To learn more about the YMCA’s revised health and safety measures please see our YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook for COVID-19 or watch this short video.

All shared rooms and equipment are thoroughly cleaned between and after use. Cleaning will take place during the transition between the core school day and Before & After School program. Toys and small equipment are not shared between the core school day students and Before & After School program.

Yes. To help reduce the spread of COVID-19, children in the Before & After School program are with the same children and staff, and in the same classroom, every day. As the Before & After School program brings together students from different grades, program cohorts will include children from different core day cohorts within the same school.

All YMCA Before & After School programs follow the health and safety measures outlined in the Ministry Or Education’s Before and After School Programs Kindergarten – Grade 6 Policies and Guidelines in consultation with local public health units. To learn more about the YMCA’s revised health and safety measures please see the YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook for COVID-19.

Yes, the YMCA of Greater Toronto will be offering both in-person and virtual programs for children from July 5 to September 3. Our camp and licensed full day child care programs will provide great group experiences in safety-enhanced environments, and our virtual programs bring the fun and friendship right to your home. A full list of programs and registration information is available here.

Registration for Summer Break programming is open now. A full list of programs and registration information is available here.

The YMCA Before and After School programs will be closed during the week of January 4-8, 2021 in accordance with the Safer at Home Restrictions effective December 26, 2021. As a result, the Child Care fees for before and after school programs will be credited for the week of January 4-8 , 2021 and applied to future months scheduled payments. Fee payments for Full Day Child Care programs will be processed as scheduled as Full Day Child Care was not affected by this announcement.

Registration changes can be made by completing our change of request form by visiting https://ymcagta.org/child-care/registration-change-request-form.

We would be happy to add your child to a centre’s waitlist and will contact you once a spot becomes available. To be placed on a waitlist, contact the Program Supervisor of the centre you wish to attend or email a request to csac@ymcagta.org.

Unfortunately we are no longer holding child care spaces. If you wish to keep an active registration, you will be required to pay 100% of your child care fees whether or not your child attends.

Yes. Notice of the August 21, 2020 deadline to confirm or decline children’s return to care in September was sent to all families for whom the YMCA was holding spaces since March 13, 2020. The notice was sent via email on August 7, 2020 and a reminder was sent on August 19, 2020. In addition, a notice was included in the August 10 and 17 editions of the YMCA child care newsletter sent to all registered families. If you did not receive these messages, please update your email address on file to ensure you are receiving communications from the YMCA. Obtain a change of request form by visiting https://ymcagta.org/child-care/registration-change-request-form.

Child care fees will be adjusted accordingly for up to 5 days of absence due to COVID-19 symptoms. Fee credits will be applied to future monthly child care monthly fees. Please refer to our Absence from Care Procedure in the our YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook Guidelines for COVID-19 document

Child care fees will be adjusted accordingly for the period of exclusion up to 14 days, determined by Public Health, for absences due to isolation related to a program or centre closure due to close contact with a positive case of COVID-19. Fee credits will be applied to future monthly child care monthly fees. Please refer to our Absence from Care Procedure in the our YMCA Child Care Revised Parent Handbook Guidelines for COVID-19 document