How to Open a Daycare Centre in Ontario

The fact that shapes everything: the ministry licences the centre, the city licences the building

A licensed child care centre in Ontario answers to the Ministry of Education for the licence, and to the municipality for the premises. The ministry never delegates the licence — there is exactly one application route, the online Child Care Licensing System (CCLS). The city never gets a say on whether you may provide care — but it controls zoning, the building code, and the fire code, and the ministry will not issue a licence without the city's approvals. Start both tracks in parallel; neither moves fast enough to wait for the other.

This is a different legal animal from a home daycare. Our home daycare guide covers the two home-based paths (unlicensed with a 5-child cap, or licensed through a home child care agency). Everything below covers the centre route: a licensed premises, ministry ratios, qualified supervisors, and the CWELCC funding question.

Step 1: File the licence application through CCLS

There is only one way to apply for a child care centre licence: the Ministry of Education's online Child Care Licensing System. You register, submit the application, pay the non-refundable fee deposit, and upload the supporting documents — policies and procedures, relevant approvals, and floor plans.

Two eligibility points to get right before you file. First, an individual, a corporation, or a First Nation can apply; a licence cannot be issued to an unincorporated partnership, so a partnership-style business needs a different legal vehicle first. Second, if the applicant is a corporation, you must supply your articles of incorporation; a federally incorporated corporation does not need to prove it registered provincially. The fee deposit is non-refundable — withdraw the application and you do not get it back.

Step 2: Budget the licence fee by capacity

Section 81 of Ontario Regulation 137/15 sets the fee by licensed capacity, not by revenue. Size your licensed capacity to the premises you can actually staff and fill:

A revised licence outside renewal costs $25, or the revision fee from the table if the ministry's program adviser has to visit the centre. Budget the renewal fee annually — licences renew, they are not issued once.

Step 3: Clear the building approvals — all seven

At application, you must file evidence that the premises comply with the matters listed in section 13 of O. Reg. 137/15, and the premises must keep complying for as long as it is used as a centre:

• the laws affecting the health of the municipality's inhabitants
• any rule, regulation, direction, or order of the local board of health, and any direction or order of the local medical officer of health
• municipal bylaws — including zoning, which is the approval that kills the most home-premises applications — and any other law that protects people from fire hazards
• any municipal building bylaw passed under the Planning Act
• the Building Code
• the Fire Code (Ontario Regulation 213/07)
• the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002

Practically, this means three inspection-style conversations before you apply: the municipality on zoning for a child care centre at your address, the local fire department on fire-code compliance, and the local health unit on health requirements. Get these in writing — they become part of the evidence you file.

Step 4: Staff to the ratios, with a qualified supervisor

Staffing is where licensing bites hardest, so design the centre around it.

Ratios. Full staff-to-child ratios are in Schedule 1 of O. Reg. 137/15 and vary by age group. During the three windows when reduced ratios are allowed — arrival (first 90 minutes of a 6-hour-plus program), departure (last 60 minutes), and the rest period (up to two hours) — staffing can drop to no less than 1:8 for toddlers, 1:12 for preschool, 1:20 for kindergarten, and 1:23 for primary/junior school-age. Reduced ratios never apply to infant groups or junior school-age groups and never apply during outdoor play. A floor rule from the regulation: at least two adults must be present when six or more children are in care (four or more in an infant group).

The supervisor. The supervisor directs the program, is in charge of the children, and manages the staff — and every supervisor must be approved by a ministry director. Section 53 of O. Reg. 137/15 sets the standard route: a member in good standing of the College of Early Childhood Educators (a Registered Early Childhood Educator) with at least two years of experience providing licensed child care; a director can instead approve a person they consider capable of planning and directing the program. Budget the supervisor as management, not as ratio cover: under O. Reg. 137/15, a supervisor only counts toward ratios when fewer than five full-time employees are needed to meet them; with five or six employees needed, a full-time supervisor can count for up to half the required time; with seven or more, the supervisor cannot be counted at all. You request director approval for your supervisor as part of the licensing file, and a director-approved supervisor must be in place before the licence is issued.

Background and training. Standard licensing conditions require criminal reference checks for the people the centre puts in contact with children, and licensing guidance expects current First Aid/CPR certification across staff — sort both during the application period, not after the inspection.

Step 5: Size the premises for licensed capacity

Ontario Regulation 137/15 sets the indoor play-space standard at 2.8 square metres of unobstructed floor space per child for infant, toddler, preschool, and family age groups, and 2.58 square metres per child for kindergarten and school-age groups. A centre that runs six hours or more a day needs outdoor play space of at least 5.6 square metres per child based on licensed capacity, unless a ministry director approves otherwise, plus separate food-preparation and storage areas and age-appropriate equipment. The ministry's planning and design guidelines for licensed centres go further on layout — reading them before you sign a lease is cheap insurance, because the site inspection checks space against your licensed capacity and a too-small premises means a too-small licence. As noted in step 3, a house can host a centre only if it is zoned for it, fire-approved, and meets every CCEYA standard including outdoor play space — that combination is the exception, not the plan.

Step 6: Answer the CWELCC money question before you write the business plan

Parents will ask about $10-a-day care on the first tour, so you need a grounded answer. As of June 2026, 93% of Ontario's licensed spaces for children aged 0–5 are enrolled in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system, with fees capped at $22 per day and averaging $19 per day — and 60,000 net new affordable spaces had been created toward the 86,000-space target.

For a new centre, CWELCC enrolment is not automatic. New spaces enter through Directed Growth allocations run by local service system managers (consolidated municipal service managers and district social services administration boards), and allocations are finite — Hamilton's Directed Growth application process is closed, with no new CWELCC spaces committed beyond 2026. The practical move: contact your local service system manager about the current Directed Growth round before you promise reduced fees in your business plan. Separately, Ontario's Start-up Grants support new spaces at $9,000 per centre-based space — a meaningful offset against the fit-up costs in step 5.

Step 7: Register the business itself

The licence covers the care; the business paperwork is the standard set: an Ontario business name registration (Master Business Licence) if you operate under any name other than your own, a CRA business number, GST/HST registration once taxable revenue passes $30,000 a year, and the municipality's own business licence on top of the child care approvals. Because unincorporated partnerships cannot hold a licence, pick the vehicle deliberately — our sole proprietorship vs. incorporation quiz helps you choose before you file, and the GST/HST decision guide explains when registration becomes mandatory.

The numbers worth knowing

• Child care centre licence application: CCLS only; fee deposit is non-refundable
• New licence fee: $200–$450 by licensed capacity (renewals $100–$230)
• Reduced ratios (arrival/departure/rest): toddler 1:8, preschool 1:12, kindergarten 1:20, primary/junior school-age 1:23 — never for infants or junior school-age groups, never outdoors
• Supervisor counts in ratios: only when fewer than five full-time employees are needed; not counted at seven or more
• Indoor play space: 2.8 m² unobstructed per child for infant, toddler, preschool, and family age groups; 2.58 m² for kindergarten and school-age groups; outdoor play space 5.6 m² per child based on licensed capacity (programs of six hours or more)
• CWELCC: 93% of Ontario 0–5 licensed spaces enrolled; fees capped at $22/day, averaging $19/day (June 2026)
• Start-up Grants: $9,000 per centre-based space
• GST/HST registration: mandatory at $30,000 in annual taxable revenue
• While waiting on the ministry: unlicensed operation capped at 5 children, one location

What the licence buys you — and what it doesn't

The licence is the legal right to care for more than five children at a premises. It does not guarantee enrolment, CWELCC fees, or staff — the three shortages every new Ontario centre owner actually competes on are RECE-qualified supervisors, affordable leased premises that survive the zoning and fire checks, and families willing to pay non-CWELCC rates while you work through the Directed Growth queue. File the business registrations, lock the premises, and start the supervisor search the same week you open the CCLS application; the sequential strategy takes twice as long.

Related guides

• How to start a daycare in Canada — the Canada-level hub: centre versus home care, province by province, with links to all six provincial daycare guides.
• How to open a daycare centre in British Columbia — the same centre decision in British Columbia: a facility licence from your regional health authority under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, Schedule E group ratios, and ECE Registry staffing.
• How to start a home daycare in Ontario — the companion: Ontario's two legal home-based paths — unlicensed (5-child cap) or licensed through a home child care agency — for when a centre is more than you need.
• How to register a sole proprietorship and get a GST/HST number in Canada — the business-paperwork side: business-name registration and the CRA business number behind the licence.
• Do you need a GST number as a sole proprietor in Canada? — when the $30,000 threshold actually bites for a daycare centre's revenue mix.
• How to open a business bank account in Canada — keep the centre's money separate from day one.
• Sole prop or incorporated? Take the 5-question quiz — unincorporated partnerships cannot hold a child care centre licence; the quiz helps you pick the right vehicle before you file.
• How to become an early childhood educator in Ontario (RECE) — the worker credential side: the College's education routes, $260 application cost, and the licensing-rule hiring floor that makes RECEs mandatory staff.

Sources

• Ontario Ministry of Education, Start a child care program — a licence is required for a program that provides care to more than 5 children younger than 13; the application steps (register for CCLS, submit the application, pay the non-refundable fee deposit, gather policies and procedures, approvals, and floor plans); the ministry's review, building-code and fire-code proof, supervisor director-approval request, and site inspection; the unlicensed limits while an application is processed (maximum 5 children including your own under age 4, no more than 3 under age 2, one location); and the home-centre conditions (zoned for use as a child care centre, approved by the local fire department, meets every CCEYA requirement including adequate outdoor play space)
• Ontario, Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 — section 6 prohibits operating a child care centre without a licence and section 6(3) excepts care provided to no more than five children at any one time; section 8 bars unlicensed care at more than one premises; section 20 covers licence applications and renewals
• Ontario, Ontario Regulation 137/15 — General — the current consolidation (consolidation period from July 1, 2026): section 8 and Schedule 1 (full ratios, reduced-ratio windows and exclusions, the two-adult rule, and when a supervisor counts toward ratios), section 13 (the seven compliance matters filed at application), sections 16 and 24 (indoor and outdoor play-space figures), section 53 (supervisor approval routes), and section 81 (the licence fee table, including revision fees)
• Ontario Ministry of Education, Child Care Centre Licensing Manual — Introduction — there is only one way to apply, through CCLS; an individual, a corporation, or a First Nation can apply and licences cannot be issued to unincorporated partnerships; a corporation supplies its articles of incorporation and a federally incorporated corporation need not prove provincial registration; a director-approved supervisor must be in place and other requirements are assessed at a site inspection before the licence is issued
• Ontario Ministry of Education, Child Care Centre Licensing Manual — Part 3: Ratios and Group Size — the reduced-ratio floors (toddler 1:8, preschool 1:12, kindergarten 1:20, primary/junior school-age 1:23; reduced ratios never permitted for infant or junior school-age groups), the rest-period scope, and the supervisor counting rules restated
• Ontario Ministry of Education, Child Care Centre Licensing Manual — Part 8: Staff Qualifications — all supervisors must be approved by a ministry director, whether they are an RECE or not
• Ontario, Child care rules in Ontario — the unlicensed limits restated: a maximum of 5 children under age 13, the provider's own children count if they are younger than 4, a maximum of 3 children younger than 2, and care in only one location
• Ontario Ministry of Education, Planning and design guidelines for licensed child care centres — layout and design guidance for licensed centres, restating the regulation's space figures (2.8 square metres of unobstructed floor space per child in infant, toddler, preschool, and family age groups; outdoor play space of at least 5.6 square metres per child based on licensed capacity)
• Ontario, Canada-Ontario early years and child care agreement — as of June 2026, 93% of licensed spaces for children aged 0–5 are in CWELCC-enrolled programs, fees are capped at $22 per day with a provincial average of $19 per day, and 60,000 net new affordable spaces have been created toward the 86,000-space commitment; providers apply to participate through their local service system manager against directed growth plans, and managers may have a limited number of CWELCC spaces
• Ontario, Ontario's Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2025 — the Start-up Grant amounts per space ($9,000 centre-based, $1,200 home-based) and the 47 local service system managers (consolidated municipal service managers and district social services administration boards) that administer local child care
• City of Hamilton, Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) — Hamilton's Directed Growth application process is closed, all growth in CWELCC is approved through that process, and no new CWELCC spaces have been committed in Hamilton beyond 2026 (page modified September 28, 2026)

Rules are current as of November 2026. Confirm the current fee schedule and CWELCC Directed Growth status on ontario.ca and with your local service system manager before applying — regulations and funding rounds change yearly.