Ontario faces a significant gap in the workforce that underpins its affordable child care system, according to a new report from the province's Auditor General. The 2025 report found that the province needs a large influx of trained staff in a short window of time, putting a spotlight on how difficult it has become to keep early childhood educators in the sector. The findings come as Ontario works to broaden access to lower-cost child care for families.
The central figure in the report is a stark one. According to the Auditor General, Ontario needs 10,000 additional early childhood educators by the end of this year in order to support the planned expansion of the affordable child care system. That target sets a clear benchmark against which the province's efforts to grow its child care network will be measured.
The report also points to why filling those roles has proven so hard. Low pay, burnout, challenging working conditions and the lack of benefits or pensions are among the reasons it has been difficult to recruit and retain early childhood educators. Together, these factors make the job hard to sustain over the long term, even for those drawn to the work.
For some, those realities are enough to end the career before it begins. One person described giving up on the dream after discovering what the role actually involved, saying they could not afford to stay in the sector even before entering it. They added that only if educators had decent work, decent pay, basic benefits and a pension would they consider joining the field.
The federal government, for its part, points to the money it is putting into the system. Ottawa says Canada is providing more than 3.9 billion dollars to support continued access to high quality child care. It also says that employment among early childhood educators and assistants has grown in recent years, framing the situation as one of progress rather than decline.
Ontario, however, argues that the current funding is not enough to keep the system stable. The province has said that the stability of the Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement requires a significant increase in federal funding. That position places the question of who pays at the center of the debate over how to close the staffing gap.
At the same time, the province says it is taking its own steps to address the shortage. The Ministry of Education says it has launched a comprehensive workforce strategy aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators, including higher wages and better working conditions. Whether those measures can deliver the thousands of additional educators the auditor says are needed, and how quickly, remains the key question for families relying on the system.