Age wise then she would be within legal limits provided no other child came to her house while your children are there as she is already at the 5 child maximum. When you look at your tax form the deduction for a child from your taxes would certainly benefit you as it is several thousand dollars per child. You will need your friend to be willing to give you her SIN number along with the receipts as that is what you need to claim by the rules although some have said if the parent just puts down the name and address of the person they have gotten away with it. There is a great booklet that outlines the daycare end of things on the Revenue Canada website called using my home for daycare. If your friend does go that route suggest that she pay the $25 and join the www.ccprn.com to get support, questions answered and to have access to workshops and resources she can use with the children which will benefit her child as well. Local providers would be more than happy to help your friend get started. One of the things that hasn't been mentioned is that she should contact her insurance provider to ask about a ryder on her home and/or auto policy for looking after other people's children. If anything were to happen she would not have insurance to cover the incident without it. Her insurance will consider her a provider if she cares for the children daily in her home.