Grow your early years and child care career
Peel Region is committed to growing and supporting a strong early years and child care workforce. As the need for early childhood educators continues to grow, job opportunities for individuals looking for a rewarding career are also increasing.
Early childhood professionals can work in several settings. These include:
- Licensed centred-based child care.
- Licensed home child care.
- Peel Inclusion Resource Services (PIRS).
- EarlyON Child and Family Centres.
Become an early childhood educator
If you’re interested in becoming an early childhood educator, there are several pathways you can choose.
To qualify as a registered early childhood educator, you must meet the education requirements of the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE). This means completing an early childhood education diploma from an Ontario college.
Post-secondary school ECE diploma programs in the Greater Toronto Area:
- Centennial College
- Durham College
- George Brown Polytechnic
- Humber Polytechnic
- Mothercraft College
- Seneca Polytechnic
- Sheridan College
You can also access a full list of colleges offering an ECE diploma.
After earning your ECE diploma you must register and become a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators.
The College of Early Childhood Educators may also recognize education or work experience you didn’t complete at an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology. For more information, refer to the Application Guide for the Individual Assessment of Educational Qualifications.
If you’re a high school student who is passionate about teaching and shaping children's minds, a career as an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) could be the right path for you.
To begin, you may:
- Speak to your guidance counsellor or teachers about your goals.
- Use education and career planning tools, such as myBlueprint, to support your academic and career exploration.
- Participate in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) and become a Child Development Practitioner apprentice while earning credits towards your secondary school diploma.
Learn more about the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE) and how they support the profession.
Licensed home child care providers can support children and families in your community while enjoying the flexibility of setting your own hours. Home child care agencies are licenced by the Ministry of Education to work with home business entrepreneurs to create child care programs.
If you live in Peel and are ready to start your own home child care business, review the list of licensed home child care agencies that operate homes in Peel that we work with:
- Better Than Home
- Bright Future Childcare Services
- Building Opportunities Inc.
- Caring For Kids - Home Day Care
- Children's Learning Garden Home Licensing Agency
- ChildSPEC Licensed Home Daycare Services
- Daisy Blue
- Family Day Care Services
- Fun Time Day Care LHCC
- Kids Kare Home Day Care Agency Ltd.
- Kreative Kids PHDC
- Learning Happens Child Care Inc.
- RUMO Child Care Services
- Today's Family Private Home Day Care
- Wee Watch - Terrace Woods (Vaughan/Caledon)
- Wee Watch (Mississauga South) Enriched Home Day Care (Paulins)
- Wee Watch Enriched Child Care - Brampton
- YMCA of Greater Toronto
Reasons to join these agencies as a home child care provider:
- Set your own hours to offer flexible child care hours in a home setting.
- Access competitive compensation and provincial grant funding through agencies.
- Connect with families needing child care that works with your schedule and services.
- Receive guidance from home child care visitors to meet regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act.
- Get administrative support to help manage your business.
Become a Child Development Practitioner (CDP) through an apprenticeship training program with on-the-job and in-school training. The program combines on-the-job experience with academic training though an apprenticeship framework.
Graduates will receive a CDP Apprenticeship Certificate from Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
Early childhood education programs
To become a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) you need to complete an early childhood education diploma program from an Ontario college.
We offer tuition grant programs to support non-RECEs in the early years and child care sector. These programs may be in person, online, or a mix of both. Opportunities are also available so students can study while continuing to work in the sector.
Qualifications Upgrade Program
The Qualifications Upgrade Program (QUP) offers financial help to individuals already working in child care or early years programs to complete their ECE diploma and advance their careers in early childhood education.
This financial grant helps students cover the cost of:
- Tuition.
- Travel.
- Living expenses.
- Membership fees.
The QUP also offers financial help for early years and child care professionals to complete leadership certifications such as the Leadership Micro-Credential program from Sheridan College.
Professional Advancement of Careers in Early Childhood Educators program
Professional Advancement of Careers in Early Childhood Educators (PACE) offers non-RECEs currently working in the sector fully funded tuition towards earning an ECE diploma.
This program is an online, self-paced program that allows those taking part to earn a 2-year college diploma in Early Childhood Education while continuing to work with their current child care provider in Peel.
This program includes 280 hours of field placement, which you can complete at your centre. Whether these hours are paid is up to your employer.
Professional learning and development for ECEs
Child Development Resource Connection Peel (CDRCP) offers high-quality, diverse, and responsive professional learning for Peel’s early childhood professionals. They offer engaging, relevant, and informative in-person, virtual, and pre-recorded learning sessions to educate professionals about the best care and practices for the children and families in Peel region.
Planning time and professional learning
Program staff can use planning time to align pedagogy with practice, reflect on professional learning activities, consider children’s goals, and prepare learning environments for children.
To qualify for planning time funding, program staff must work a minimum of 20 hours a week supporting ratio requirements as outlined in the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA). Qualifying staff must receive 4 hours of paid planning time each month.
Program staff and supervisors can get funding to support professional learning. This helps strengthen skills, deepen knowledge in child care, and align everyday practice with the How Does Learning Happen, Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years and child care sector.
Program staff who work a minimum 20 hours a week supporting ratio requirements, as outlined in the CCEYA, qualify to access up to $500 a year for:
- Professional learning costs.
- Paid professional learning time.
- Staff coverage (release time).
- Extra hours worked.
- Travel time and mileage.
Your employer is responsible for sharing these opportunities with you. Ask them about planning time and professional learning.