Home child care agency licence

Buyers of a home daycare agency meet this licence because the agency, not each home, is what holds it. The daycare buyer checklist lists other items to confirm. Ask who holds the licence and how many providers and premises sit under it.

What Ontario’s Act says

Section 7 says no person shall enter into an agreement with a parent that arranges for a third person to provide child care at a premises that is not the child’s own home, or into an agreement with a child care provider to oversee care, except under a licence as a home child care agency. Section 6(3) lists circumstances where the child care centre licence requirement does not apply, including home child care that meets criteria such as an agreement for the agency’s oversight and limits on the number of children. Section 20(5) says a licence is not transferable. O. Reg. 137/15 requires an agency licensee to employ a home child care visitor, and to have each premises inspected by a home child care visitor before it is used.

What to ask

• Which entity holds the licence, and whether the deal changes that entity.
• Which providers and premises the agency oversees, and the agreements in place.
• Whether visitor inspections and records are current.

Compare the child care centre licence. This entry covers Ontario only; check the rules where the business is.