Parent advocates are calling on the province to invest more money into Ontario's After School Program. A campaign is aiming to put pressure on the government and also share the stories of parents who are struggling due to a lack of options.
Many Ontario parents say a lack of after-school programs is making it even more difficult to raise a family in the province amid the rising cost of living.
The province, meanwhile, says it's reviewing the program, has increased the investment this school year by $1.1 million, and currently supports hundreds of sites. "I'm in downtown Toronto and there are waitlists for everything. Sometimes there's the space, but not enough staff. Or now they have staff but they can't afford the space with the rising costs. So it seems like everybody's caught in this sort of web of things that are just not working," she said, adding some centres were also forced to close during the pandemic.
The two groups have an online campaign encouraging parents to share their struggles and reach out to the provincial government.The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport provides funding to non-profit organizations to run-after school programs, including BGC Canada. The ministry recently announced a $1.1 million dollar increase to the program, which will benefit BGC Canada.
Charters said that at a recent meeting with representatives of several of their clubs, waitlists were a key concern. "Not just a sort of a piecemeal — fix one problem over here and fix another problem over there and hope that these Band-Aids will take us through the next five or 10 years. We really need to think about the future of childcare and how it contributes to a strong society and a strong economy," Charters said.In a statement, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport said the government has invested $67.
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