The Quality Assurance (QA) Team reviews and assesses applications for child care licences.
Licensing Services
Licensing Services inspects and issues licenses to day care facilities, which provide care for more than six children of any age combination (birth to 12 years), or for more than eight school age children (all attending school), as well as family home day care agencies.
What is the purpose of licensing?
Licensing protects the health, safety, and well-being of those receiving out-of-home care by ensuring compliance with the standards set out in the legislation and regulations for these Day Cares and Family Home Day Cares.
What is the role of the Licensee?
The Licensee is responsible for ensuring that the facility complies with the applicable legislation and requirements for their facility. They may delegate this responsibility to the Facility Director, who would be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facility.
How often are facilities inspected?
Facilities are inspected at least twice a year. Facilities that are non-compliant with licensing requirements in some area(s) receive more frequent inspections.
How is it determined that a facility complies with licensing requirements?
Licensing Services makes objective assessments based on first-hand observations, reviews of written records, files and other documentation; and interviews with operators, their employees, and clients.
How are the licensing requirements determined?
The licensing requirements applied to a facility are based on the acts, regulations, and standards applicable to the type of facility.
Additional Licensing Resources
- Early Learning and Child Care Act
- Early Learning and Child Care Regulations
- Ministerial Requirements – Regulated Child Care Settings
- Child Abuse Register (Information on how to obtain a child abuse registry check)
- Fire Inspections (Conducted by the Office of the Fire Marshal)
- Health Inspections (Conducted by Agriculture Food Safety Specialists)
Licensing Change Request
Licensing change requests are required for alterations that will affect license capacity, program type, change in age range, relocation, any substantial renovation, registered name change, or any change that significantly affects the care of children.
Any proposed changes to program age ranges will be required to demonstrate that there is a need within the community (such as a waitlist or other evidence of unmet need).
- Changes to a license require review and approval by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
- Changes must not be made (such as advertisement of changes that require a new license issued, enrolment of children outside of current license that require an age change renovations that affect licenced floor space for use by children, use of name change, etc.) until the department has approved the change request.
- Approval is a requirement pursuant to the Early Learning and Child Care Act.
- Change requests are not required for alterations to the facility, indoors or outdoors, that do not require a new license. Such changes include expansion of a playground, playground upgrades such as surfacing, sheds, equipment, fencing, or renovations that are part of regular maintenance.
- Contact your Early Childhood Development Consultant or Licensing Officer to discuss the change you wish to make to your centre/agency and whether you need to submit a Change Request Application.
- To apply for a change request, the licensee must complete the Licensing Change Request Application.
- Submit the completed application form via the submission upload form.
- The application will be reviewed by the department within six weeks.
- Notification will be provided from the department indicating your change request has been either:
- Approved (new license to be issued);
- Approved in principle with conditions that must be met before a new license is issued per the Regulations under the Early Learning and Child Care Act; or
- Not approved with accompanying rationale.
If approved in principle
Your Early Childhood Development Consultant or Licensing Officer will contact you about any required conditions, such as work with other provincial or local government agencies for fire prevention, health/safety, zoning, registered name change, or where an inspection by Licensing is required before a license can be issued.
A new license will be issued when you have met all the conditions applicable to the change request.
Temporary Staffing Plan
A Temporary Staffing Plan provides a licensee a temporary exemption from having a full 2/3 of the staff trained, as per Regulation 36(4) of the Day Care Regulations.