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Hello everyone, I would like to open a daycare in my own home. I am an RECE and I'm wondering if its possible to license a home daycare? If yes how do I go about it or what are the guidelines I need to follow in regards to starting up? How do I register it as a business? I'm trying to decide if I should have a licensed child care or not. I know I'm only allowed 5 children and my own child counts but does the age of the children matter?
Does in some provinces. Where are you ?
I'm in Ontario
In ont u can have five kids. Your own count under age 6. U can only have two under two. If you have a 4/5yr old in full daycare kindergarten and only one under two then they won't count during the school yr only in the summer. If you want to go with an agency Google your town, daycare agencies. Some should come up and give them a call. Good luck. Also Google bill 10 and get to know the new rules.
You cannot be a "licensed home daycare" in Ontario, they do not exist. You can be private (which the government loves to refer to as unlicensed) or you can be contracted by a licensed agency to work under their umbrella. Agency providers like to call themselves "licensed" but they do not actually hold a license themselves, their agency does. Agencies are not the same across the board. Some are for-profit and some are not. Some are great and some are terrible. Some regions of the province do not have agencies, so the municipality or region acts as an agency and contracts "licensed" providers. It really depends on where you live. Most agencies set your fees for you, and many have a whole host of other rules to follow.
Under the new childcare laws (Bill 10) ALL home daycares, whether through an agency or not, have to count their own children under age 6 in their numbers and are limited to 2 under age 2, as babydom described. Agencies are technically allowed to have some providers care for 6 children instead of 5, but I haven't heard of any agency actually doing this yet - the provider must have a certain amount of square footage, have a clean record with the agency, and possibly other rules that haven't come out yet, as the law is new. Regardless on whether or not a particular agency would allow you to have a sixth child, you would find it pretty much impossible to find an insurance company willing to cover you for 6 children - it's hard enough finding one to cover 5.
CICPO (the Coalition of Independent Childcare Providers of Ontario) has numerous facebook groups on the new laws, if you want more info.
You do not have to register your business as a home daycare, but you do have to claim all your income and pay taxes as a self-employed person.
As far as deciding whether or not to go with an agency, both private providers and agency providers must count their own children under age 6 in their total number of kids. If your child is in full-day kindergarten or grade 1, they only count in the summer, AS LONG AS you only have one child under age 2. Essentially you can choose - have 2 children under age 2, but have to count your kindergarten child whenever they are home, or only count them during summer break, but only be allowed to take on one child under age 2.
Agencies set your fees for you, and take a substantial cut. Where I am, for instance, the local agency charges parents $38 a day for infant care, but only pays the provider $30. The agency keeps $8/day/infant, and the provider is still responsible for all food, crafts, insurance, and all other costs associated with running the business. Some agencies charge and keep even more for themselves - I spoke to the local Wee Watch office here, and they charge parents $40 a day and only pay the provider $28 per day for infants and preschoolers. So I would suggest looking into your local agencies and asking them flat-out what your actual pay would be, and evaluating whether or not the possibility of taking on a 6th child would make your business viable or not. For many, it won't. I can easily charge $35-$40 a day on my own and keep all of it, allowing me to put more money back into my business. The only advantage an agency really offers, in my opinion, is the ability to take on clients that are subsidized by the province. Private providers cannot accept subsidy, so if you live in a low-income area where most parents qualify for daycare subsidy, that could be a factor. Could you find enough parents willing and able to pay privately or do you need to look into an agency to be able to find children? All thoughts to consider.
Good luck in your decision!
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