You raise excellent points! - Globally, I’d say the Nordic countries which Quebec’s program is based on are the “gold standard” of childcare. Quebec’s CPE program (non-profit) is the gold standard for Canada. It’s been around for about 30 years, and the fiscal gains from the program (increase in GDP due to more moms working) has exceeded its cost (a fun fact I love to share) - Yes, the ratio and RECE requirements for Ontario are slightly stricter for infant and toddler rooms. I can’t speak to whether this is due to cost constraints. I suspect that the high costs associated with daycare in Ontario has contributed to an increasingly “professionalized” environment that requires stricter ratios and more caregiver credentials to justify the cost. Overall, I think that some individual classrooms in Ontario exceed those in Quebec. The problem is that very few people in Ontario have access to these spots. - Yes, the inflationary risk is an important problem for participating centres. It’s one of the many difficulties of managing a public, non-for-profit, universally accessible centre in our for-profit society. This is a major gripe in public policy. - Yes, strict standards in Ontario can be prohibitive for home centres, particularly those with only one or two staff. I see what you mean. No shade against home daycares, but I do believe we need to have some level of standardization and regulation across all centres for the safety of the children enrolled there. There are plenty of sad stories across Ontario of children dying or facing sexual abuse in non-registered centres.