Step 1Sign in
Open the link in your invitation email and choose a password. After that, sign in with your email and that password.
Your centre's office sends the invitation. The link opens a page called "Choose a password"; type the password twice and tap "Save and continue". You land on My rooms. There is nothing else to set up on your first sign-in.
From then on, sign in at keepcount.ca with your email and that password. "Forgot password?" sends a link to your email. On a phone or tablet that has Touch ID or Face ID, you can add a passkey later under My details and sign in with it instead of typing the password. A short tour of your screens runs the first time you open your home page; skip it, or take it again from Help (the last step).
If the link has expired, choose "Forgot password?" on the sign-in page and enter your email: a new link comes to it. If you never received the invitation at all, ask the office to send it again. KeepCount support ([email protected]) answers questions about the system itself, not about your account at the centre.
To sign out of KeepCount, use Sign out at the top right of the screen; on a phone it is at the foot of the menu. If records made without a connection are still waiting to send, KeepCount says so and asks before it signs you out.
Step 2Your home page
Your home page lists what the centre asks of you: policies to read and confirm, quizzes, training, and your screening documents, each with its due date.
"Your checklist" has three rows: read and confirm each policy, pass each policy quiz, complete required training. "Continue" takes you to the next thing to do; the list gets shorter as you go, and the office sees the same list. Below it, "What is due" lists every item by date, and "Your screening documents" shows the vulnerable sector check, offence declaration, first aid and the other documents the centre keeps for you, with the date each is due.
Messages from the office appear at the top of the page until you read them. "Due now" shows up to three things due in your rooms right now (an opening check not yet done, a sleep check due), with a link to the rest on My rooms.
Step 3Choose your rooms for today
Your usual room is already set on My rooms. Somewhere else today? Tap "Change my rooms today", tick the room, Save. Tomorrow you are back to your usual room.
The office gives you a usual room, and it shows under "Your rooms today". The dialog says: "Choose the rooms you are working in today. Sleep checks and head counts in these rooms come first, and this device can notify you when one falls due. Tomorrow you are back to your usual rooms. These are your rooms; to work in another room, use Cover this room on it." "Use my usual rooms" puts things back. On a day that is not one of your usual days, your own room shows as "Your room" with "I'm in … today": one tap and it is your room for the day; "Change" chooses others.
If you tick a second room, both rooms' checks and sleep checks come first on your Due now list, and you can record in either. "Notify this device" in the Due now box lets this phone or tablet tell you when a check or a sleep check in your room falls due. Covering another room is its own step, in your first week.
Step 4The opening check
In Daily checks, tap "Opening check" before the first child arrives.
Daily checks is the card under your room. Tap a check, confirm each item, note anything found. A check with an unticked item is recorded as an issue for the supervisor to follow up. The tiles are: Flushing (before opening), when the centre keeps a drinking-water schedule; Opening check; Playground check, the daily inspection of the outdoor play space, its play structures and surfacing (s. 24(5)(b): daily, monthly and annual inspections as the CSA standard sets out); Sleep monitors, when the room uses electronic sleep monitors, which must be checked daily (s. 33.1(5)(c)); Sanitizing; and Closing check.
Each tile shows "Not yet" and "Tap to record", or the time it was done. "Count illness today" keeps the day's count of children who appeared ill (s. 36(2) asks that a child who appears ill is separated from the others and the symptoms noted in the child's record). A check that is late shows in the Due now box with how late it is.
Step 5Tick each item and record
Tick each item as you check it. Anything you cannot tick, describe in the box. Then tap "Record the check".
The items are your centre's own list; the demonstration's opening check reads "Exits and corridors clear", "Emergency supplies and first aid kit checked", "Room temperature and ventilation fine", "Hazardous products locked away", "Sign-in sheet or register ready". If you cannot tick one, say what you found in "What was found, or not checked": the button then reads "Record with an issue", and the supervisor sees the issue on the checks board.
"I did this earlier today and am recording it now" is for a check done on paper first; the record keeps both times.
Step 6Sign a child in
When a child arrives, tap "Sign in" beside their name. The time is recorded for you. A child sent home ill today is asked about first.
The register in your room's card lists every child expected today with "in" and "out" times. "Sign in" records the arrival at this moment; "Sign in several or earlier" signs in a group at once, with a time chip (Now, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes ago) when you were busy at the door first. A child who left and comes back gets "Back in".
A child who was sent home ill today, or is recorded as away sick today or on the last day the centre was open, brings a question before the sign-in: "Sign Lucas B. in? Lucas B. was sent home ill today at 11:27 a.m. Check your policy on ill children (when a child may come back) first." "Sign Lucas B. in" goes ahead and "Cancel" leaves the child as they were. Nothing is refused: your centre's policy decides when a child may return, and the question is there so that nobody signs the child in without a word. "Sign in several or earlier" asks once and names each child it applies to. With no connection nothing is asked, and the sign-in is kept on the device.
The regulation requires a record of daily attendance showing the time of arrival and the time of departure of each child, or that the child is absent (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 72(3)), and for each licensed age group which children were in the group each day and the hours they were there (s. 72(4)). These records are kept for at least three years after the child leaves the centre (s. 72(5)).
A pill beside a name ("Individual plan", "Food restriction") says the child has an individualized plan or a food restriction on file (tap "Individual plan" for what it means: an anaphylaxis plan, a plan for medical needs or a support plan); the detail is on the child's record, which you see because you work in the child's room.
Step 7Who is expected and not here
Arrivals and absences lists who is expected and has not arrived, so you can follow the safe arrival policy and call.
The page has five lists: "Expected, not here, no word", "Absent today", "Expected later", "Here now" and "Gone home", and "Booked ahead" when absences are booked for the days to come. "Book an absence" marks a child absent for a day to come or for several days (a family trip, an appointment next week): each day the child is expected gets its own absence, and a day already marked is kept as it is. Choose several children for the same days and reason (siblings on one trip): each gets their own days. "Remove" under "Booked ahead" takes back one day. Under the heading is your centre's own rule from its safe arrival and dismissal policy, for example who to call and when the supervisor decides the next step.
Every centre must have a policy on the safe arrival and dismissal of children that sets out the steps to take if a child does not arrive as expected, or is not picked up as expected (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 50(b)). The steps on this page are that policy's steps; the record of the calls is what shows they were followed.
Step 8Count heads
After every transition, tap "Count heads" on your room's card: arrivals, going out, lunch, nap and departures.
My rooms is the room tablet: record a head count after every transition (arrivals, outdoor play, lunch, nap, departures), the daily checks, and who is in each room. Everything here is time-stamped and kept for the licensing binder. You record in your own rooms; cover another room, with the reason, to record there. It works offline and sends itself when the Wi-Fi is back.
The regulation requires every child to be supervised by an adult at all times, on or off the premises (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 11), and the ratio of staff to children, the maximum group size and the proportion of qualified staff for each licensed age group to be kept, whether the children are on the premises or on an outing (s. 8(1) and Schedule 1). A head count is how you show it. From January 1, 2027, every centre's written supervision policy must say when, how and how often children are counted (s. 11(2), added by O. Reg. 197/26); your centre's policy tells you the interval it has chosen.
The card shows the last count as "4 children · 1 staff at 9:25 a.m." with a pill beside it: "Ratio met", "Short: needs 2 staff", or "No head count yet".
Step 9Enter the numbers and record
Set how many children and how many staff are in the room, read the ratio line, then tap "Record count".
The dialog has two counters, Staff and Children. Staff comes first when your room keeps the register, because the register fills in Children; without the register, Children comes first. As you change them the line under them says what the numbers mean before you save: your room's numbers, then the rule they are read against. For example "Ratio met: 3 staff for 15 children (Toddler (18 months to younger than 30 months), 1 staff to 5 children)", or "Needs 3 staff: 2 staff for 15 children (…)", or "Above the maximum group size of 15". The verdict comes from Schedule 1 for your room's age group. When the count does not match the register ("The register shows 0 children signed in"), KeepCount asks you to count again, sign children in or out, or say why in the note, which then becomes required.
Section 8(4) in full: the ratio may be reduced to no less than two-thirds of the required ratio, only during the 90 minutes after the program starts and the 60 minutes before it ends (30 minutes each for a program under six hours a day) and during the rest period, never for a licensed infant group, and never during outdoor play. KeepCount judges an outdoor count against the full ratio.
"Note (optional)" is for the moment ("after lunch, back from the yard"). "Same as the last count" fills both numbers in one tap when nothing changed. "I did this earlier today and am recording it now" keeps the count honest when you counted on paper first: the record shows the time it was entered as well as the time you give.
Step 10Outdoor time
Tap "Going out" when the group goes outside and "Back in" when it returns. "Staying in…" records why not.
The line "Outdoors: 0 minutes today" adds up the group's time outside. Each child in care for six hours or more in a day must spend at least two hours outdoors each day, weather permitting, unless a physician or a parent advises otherwise in writing (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 47(1)(c)). "Staying in…" asks the reason (rain, snow or ice, extreme cold, extreme heat, poor air quality, thunder or lightning, other weather, or something else), so a day with little outdoor time has its reason on record. Count heads when you go out and when you come back in.
Before you go out and while you are out, the row names each child of the room with anaphylaxis and where to take their auto-injector from (or who carries it), with its expiry when that is within 30 days. Children from other rooms going out with you: check their auto-injectors too.
Step 11Sleep checks
In an infant or toddler room, tap "Check sleepers" when children fall asleep, while they sleep, and when they wake.
A direct visual check means being physically present beside the child while the child is sleeping and looking for indicators of distress or unusual behaviours. The regulation requires it for every sleeping child in a licensed infant or toddler group, and for children under 24 months in a family age group, with enough light in the room to do it (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 33.1(2)(a) and (b)). Your centre's sleep policy says how often the checks are done and how they are recorded (s. 33.1(2)(c)(vi)).
Electronic sleep monitors, where the room has them, never replace the direct visual check (s. 33.1(5)(d)).
Step 12Record the sleep check
Choose "Fell asleep", "Checked while asleep" or "Woke up", tick each child, note anything to report, then tap the record button.
"Select everyone here" ticks every child signed in; "Select all asleep" ticks the sleepers for a check while they sleep. For each child you can tap "On back", "On side" or "On stomach". A child younger than 12 months must be placed for sleep as the Public Health Agency of Canada's safe sleep statement recommends, unless the child's physician recommends otherwise in writing (s. 33.1(1)). The tap records the position; if you record an infant on their side or stomach, KeepCount asks whether you turned them onto their back, or records an issue.
"Enough light to see each child?" records the light (s. 33.1(2)(b)). "Something to report about one child" takes a note for that child only: laboured breathing, flushed, hot, restless, or your own words; it then asks whether the parent or guardian was told, because a significant change in a child's sleep is communicated to the parents under the sleep policy (s. 33.1(2)(c)(v)). "No one is sleeping today" records that too.
Toddlers and preschoolers in care for six hours or more have a rest period of no more than two hours a day, and may sleep, rest or do quiet activities as they need (s. 47(2)).
"I did this earlier today and am recording it now" records a sleep entry written on paper first, with its time and the reason; the record keeps both times. It has to fit the child's other sleep entries that day: a check or "Woke up" is for a time the child was recorded asleep, "Fell asleep" for a time they were awake, and it cannot put a later entry out of order. A sign-out ends a sleep.
Step 13Sign a child out
At pick-up, tap "Sign out" beside the child, tap the person who picked them up, and tap "Sign the child out".
The dialog reads the child's pick-up list and shows it as buttons under "May pick up (tap to fill in)", with "Not to be released to" when the parents have named someone. Tap the person, or type the name in "Released to"; the time chips record when they left.
Your centre's safe arrival and dismissal policy provides that a child may only be released to the individuals the parent has specified (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 50(a)(i)), or, for a child who leaves on their own, as the parent has permitted in writing for a set time (s. 50(a)(ii)). If the name you type is not on the list, KeepCount asks: "Did a parent or guardian approve this person?" with these answers: "Yes, in writing (note it)", "Yes, by phone (who and when)", or "No: don't release; call the office", and one more when a note for today names the person. A child not picked up as expected follows the steps in the safe arrival and dismissal policy (s. 50(b)(ii)); the office has them.
When a parent tells you at drop-off that someone else picks the child up today, tap "Who picks up" beside the child and note the name, who said so and anything to know. The row shows "Pick-up note" for the rest of the day. At sign-out the note is shown above the list, with a button that puts the name in "Released to", and the question offers "Yes: a parent said so at drop-off today" for the name it gives. The office still sees the departure in "Needs a look", as someone not on the pick-up list. The note is for that day only.
Step 14The closing check
At the end of the day, tap "Closing check": every child signed out, the count at zero, the room tidy and secure.
The closing check is the last record of the day. Its items are your centre's own; tick each one as you do it and describe anything left undone.
Step 15Checks today
Checks today shows every room's counts and checks for the day, so nothing is missed before closing.
The board has a row for each room and a column for head counts, sleep checks, opening, playground, sanitizing and closing, each showing done, coming up, or overdue. Tap a cell to record it, or to say what happened when it was missed.
Step 16Policies
Open Policies and work through the list. Each policy shows "To read" until you confirm it, and "Quiz" until you pass its quiz.
The list counts "0 of 18 confirmed · 0 of 18 quizzes passed" and shows a due date for each (the demonstration gives new staff 30 days). Pills: "To read", "Confirmed", "Quiz", "Quiz passed 3/3", "Updated — please re-confirm" when the office published a new version, and "Annual review — please re-confirm" when the yearly review started a new cycle without changing the text.
Every licensee must implement its policies, procedures and individualized plans at each centre it operates (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 6.1(1)) and have a written way of monitoring compliance with them and recording contraventions (s. 6.1(7)). From January 1, 2027, the staff training policy must also provide for training on each required policy (s. 58(1.1)).
Step 17Read to the end, then confirm
Read to the end, then press "I have read it: confirm" under "I have read and understood this policy and will follow it."
A policy page has the summary, the key points, the full policy, and at the end the confirmation. When you press it, KeepCount records the version and the date: "You confirmed version 1 on October 18, 2026." The office sees the same. Some policies have a short video; "Watch the video" is a step before the quiz.
Step 18Take the quiz
Take the quiz after confirming. The pass mark is your centre's setting (80% unless it chose otherwise), and you can retake it as often as you need.
"Take the quiz" on the policy page opens it: a few multiple-choice questions ("Question 1 of 3"), sometimes a written answer the office reads. "Submit answers" shows "Passed — well done" or "Not passed yet" with "Re-read the policy" and "Retake quiz". A quiz is not a test of memory; it checks that the policy's points landed, and the office sees who passed.
Step 19Training
Training lists what the centre assigned to you, each with what to do and a due date. Nothing is posted yet for a brand-new account.
An item is a video to watch, a document to open, or questions to answer ("Watch", "Open", "Mark complete", "Answer the questions"). "Required" items count toward completion on your record and show "Due" with the date.
Every employee who may be counted in the ratio must hold a valid standard first aid certificate including infant and child CPR from a training agency recognized by the WSIB (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 58(2)).
Step 20Report an incident
Anything that affected a child's or a staff member's health, safety or well-being: tap "Report an incident" when it happens. A missing child, right away.
The regulation requires a daily written record with a summary of any such incident (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 37(1)) and, for a child's incident, that a parent is notified unless already told of it under s. 36 (s. 37(2)). A serious occurrence (among them the death of a child, abuse or neglect, a life-threatening injury or illness, a missing or temporarily unsupervised child, or an unplanned disruption of normal operations) must be reported to the Ministry within 24 hours of the licensee or supervisor becoming aware of it (s. 38); that is the office's job.
Under the incidents you recorded, "Follow-ups given to you" lists the corrective actions the office asked of you, with "Mark done".
Step 21Say what happened
Say what happened, when and where, what you did, and who told the parent. Then tap "Record".
The form asks the kind of incident, when, the site, room and child, where exactly, what happened, the action taken and any first aid, witnesses, when the parent or guardian was told, and who told them.
An injury also needs an accident report: the regulation requires a report describing the circumstances of the injury and any first aid given, with a copy to a parent (s. 36(4)). "Accident report for the parent" at the end of the form prints the copy and records when it was given and how. You can edit an incident you recorded; every change is logged, so the record is never silently changed. Sign the report as you save it: tick "Sign this report as I save it" and type your name under the sentence "I wrote this report, and it is accurate to the best of my knowledge." The record and the parent copy then say who signed it in KeepCount and when; if the report is changed afterwards, it says so, and you can sign it again. The printed copy keeps lines for signatures in ink. A photo of the hazard goes to your supervisor, who keeps it with the incident.
Step 22My details
My details keeps your contact details, your screening dates and your documents. Upload a newer document when the office asks.
Under "My documents" each document shows its date and when it is next due: the vulnerable sector check, the offence declaration, first aid and the health assessment. A centre must obtain a vulnerable sector check from every employee before they begin (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 60(1)(a)), a new one on or before every fifth anniversary, and an offence declaration in every calendar year in between, no later than 15 days after the anniversary (s. 62(1) and (2)). You must also give the licensee an offence declaration as soon as reasonably possible if you are convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code (s. 62(4)), and immediately if you are prohibited from providing child care (s. 62(5)). The health assessment and immunization come before employment, as the local medical officer of health directs (s. 57(1)).
Also here: "Change password", "Add a passkey for this device", "Send me reminder emails", and, for room staff, the PIN for a shared room tablet.
Step 23The To do bell
The "To do" bell at the top shows what is late, due and coming up, for you and your rooms, updated every two minutes.
Pills say "Late", "Due", "Soon" and "To check". The items come from your own records: a policy to confirm with its due date, a quiz to pass, training to complete, a document that is missing, expired or waiting to be verified, a follow-up from an incident, and your room's checks and sleep checks. "Nothing to do right now." means exactly that.
Step 24Cover another room
To record in a room that is not yours, open its card and tap "Cover this room"; give the reason, and "End my cover" when you leave.
Covering is how a break, lunch, a ratio cover, help with a transition or an inspector's visit is recorded honestly: the cover shows who was in the room, from when, and why. The reasons offered are "Break cover", "Lunch cover", "Ratio cover", "Helping with a transition" and "Inspector or program advisor visit". The supervisor sees every cover at the site on Rooms ("Priya Dhaliwal is covering since 8:10 am (Break cover)").
Step 25Without a connection
Without Wi-Fi, head counts, daily checks and outdoor times still record here and send themselves when the connection is back. Names and sign-ins wait.
The banner at the foot reads: "No connection. Rooms and medication doses are kept on this device and sent when the connection is back; other forms wait for the connection." A record saved this way shows "saved on this device; it sends when the connection is back" until it has gone, and "Send now" tries at once.
When My rooms is opened with no connection at all, it says: "No connection. You can count heads, record the daily checks and outdoor times now: they are kept on this device and sent when the connection is back. Children's names, the sign-in register and sleep checks come back with the connection: names are never stored on this device. Until then, write arrivals, departures and sleep checks on paper with the times; once connected, enter the sleep checks as 'This was done earlier' and the register as it stands." Photos are shared only while connected.
Step 26Help and the tour
Help has the guides to the regulation, the glossary, who to ask, "Report a problem", and "Restart the tour", which walks your seven screens again.
"Where do I…?" at the top of Help, and "Go to…" at the top of every screen (in Menu on a phone; Ctrl K, or ⌘K on a Mac), find the step of this guide for a few words such as "sign out" or "fire drill", with "Take me there" and its whole explanation, then the pages and the glossary. When nothing matches, "Tell support what you were looking for" opens Report a problem with your words filled in. Where your organization's owner has turned on "Ask the assistant" (it is off until then), a button under the box answers what you typed from your own guide, with the steps it used and "Take me there". Pressing it sends what you typed to Anthropic, outside Canada, and KeepCount does not keep it: leave out names and anything about a child or a family.
"Who to ask" names your office's address for anything about your account, policies or dates, and KeepCount support ([email protected]) for the system itself; a person answers within two business days.
The tour's seven steps: your home page, Policies, My rooms, Report an incident, Training, My details and Help. Each step moves to its screen and marks the menu item. "Skip for now" brings it back next time; "Don't show again" keeps it off until you restart it from Help.