Child Care Licensee Resources

To learn about how to set up a licensed child care program in Ontario visit the Ministry of Education website to learn more about licensing requirements.

Canada-Wide Early Learning Child Care (CWELCC) Plan

Licensees looking to open a new child care site can open outside of the CWELCC system and do not need to complete a Directed Growth Application.

All growth in CWELCC, both centre based and licensed home child care, will be approved through the City's directed growth application process.  All licensees wishing to operate in Hamilton and participate in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system, must meet the access and inclusion plans for the City of Hamilton. More information can be found at www.hamilton.ca/CWELCC.

Once your Directed Growth Application has been approved and your program has been licensed by the Ministry of Education you will be signing a Funding Agreement with the City of Hamilton.  Funding agreements enable your program to provide child care to families receiving fee subsidy and entitle your program to apply for various funding opportunities.

Learn more about how to apply for a funding agreement

Child Care Licensing System

To begin in your licensing journey login or register in the Child Care Licensing System to submit an application for a license.

All documents that you’ve been requested to submit should be done so through the online Child Care Document Submission.

• Other Available Funding Opportunities for Child Care Licensees
• Ministry of Education Access to memos and guidelines

License Revision Request

If a licensee currently enrolled in CWELCC is looking to revise their programming, they must complete the request on the Child Care Licensing System Portal. This includes:

• licensed capacity changes
• age groups served (including alternate capacity)
• program hours (e.g., less than 6 hours to more than 6 hours) 
• increase the number of approved contracted homes (HCCA only)

Any growth or expansion in the System occurs through the Directed Growth Application. Go to www.hamilton.ca/CWELCC to complete an application.

Email [email protected] if you require clarification or assistance.

Operating Capacity Change Form

When your organization has any revisions to operating capacity or use of alternate capacity for periods longer than 3 months, you will need to submit one document per site. Once completed, you can submit through the Online Child Care Document Submission.

• Operating Capacity Change Form(PDF, 230.95 KB)
• Formulaire de changement de capacité opérationnelle(PDF, 211.32 KB)

OCCMS Quick Reference Tool

This tool supports Licensees with the monthly task of providing accurate information on the Operating Capacity and Long-Term Vacancy data on the Record of Attendance (ROA). This information is used to determine funding approvals, monitor trends, and help inform the City of Hamilton.

New requirement - In the CWELCC Record of Attendance chart, you must fill out an additional column. Please use the OCCMS Quick Refence Tool(PDF, 477.05 KB), page 2, for further instructions.

CWELCC Child Eligibility Tool - Children Turning Six

To clarify, if a child is 4 or 5 and in a school age program, they are eligible until the end of the month in which they turn 6 or until June 30. If a child is 6 and in a school program, they are not eligible.

CWELCC Child Eligibility Tool - Children Turning Six(PDF, 170.85 KB)

The City of Hamilton has Funding Agreement with over 77 organizations who operate approximately 208 centre based licensed child care programs. The City conducts an annual review with these operators - part of that review is a salary survey and a per diem rate review.

Child Care System Salary Survey

*Base Rate: The hourly rate a child care organization pays to an employee without subsidies or benefits included.
**This includes General Operating Funding to Support Wages and Memorandum of Settlement (MOS) Pay Equity, Provincial Wage Enhancement and Workforce Grant Funding.

Per Diem Rate Review

*Information collected as of 2019