Glossary

The words a licensing visit uses, in plain words. KeepCount shows the same list on its Help page. The Ministry of Education decides what the Act and the regulation require; these are explanations, not legal advice.

CCLS: The Child Care Licensing System, the Ministry of Education’s online system where licensees file serious occurrence reports and manage their licence. The report’s reference number is what KeepCount records.
CWELCC: The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System, the federal–provincial program that caps the base fee for eligible children and funds enrolled licensees through the local service system manager. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 77.1–77.2
Daily written record: The day’s record of any incident affecting the health, safety or well-being of a child or staff member, with the parent notified. Most entries are minor; anything that meets the serious occurrence definition is reported as well. O. Reg. 137/15 s. 37
Direct visual check: A check of a sleeping child made by being physically present beside the child and looking for signs of distress or unusual behaviour, as often as the sleep policy says. Required for sleeping children in an infant or toddler group, and for those younger than 24 months in a family age group or at a home child care premises. O. Reg. 137/15 s. 33.1(2)
Draft policy: A policy KeepCount’s library has written in full, or one an administrator added, that staff do not see yet. A full administrator reads it, writes the parts marked for the program, checks the site details it uses, and approves it; it then reaches staff now or on a chosen date, and each version keeps its wording.
Family age group: A licensed group of up to 15 children of mixed ages, with no more than six under 24 months, staffed by a weighted calculation from Schedule 4 rather than a single ratio. O. Reg. 137/15 s. 8.1, Schedule 4
Home child care visitor: The agency employee who inspects each home before it is used and visits it without notice at least once every calendar quarter, using the director’s checklist. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 26, 56
Individualized plan: A plan for a child with medical needs or an anaphylactic allergy, developed with a parent and any regulated health professional involved in the child’s care whom the parent wants included. It names who may carry the child’s medication and sets out the emergency procedure; a medical needs plan also covers the steps to reduce risk, any medical devices, the supports available to the child, and any additional steps for an evacuation or an off-site field trip (s. 39.1(3)(d), (e)). O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 39, 39.1
Inspection binder: KeepCount’s printable report for a licensing visit: readiness, people and screening, policies and sign-offs, drills and evidence, daily logs, incidents and serious occurrences, with a sign-off block.
Licensee: The person or corporation that holds the licence and is responsible for compliance with the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 and O. Reg. 137/15, whatever systems or staff it uses.
Licensing visit: The program advisor’s inspection of a centre or agency: for a new licence, a renewal, or unannounced. The advisor usually reads the records as much as the rooms.
Mixed-age group: A licensed group that includes some children from a younger age category, with a director’s approval. If more than 20 per cent (toddler and preschool) or 25 per cent (older groups) are younger, the youngest child’s Schedule 1 line applies to the whole group. O. Reg. 137/15 s. 8(2), (3)
Offence declaration: A signed written declaration listing any Criminal Code convictions in the period it covers. Required in every calendar year without a new vulnerable sector check, no later than 15 days after the anniversary of the last declaration or check. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 59(1), 62
Program advisor: The Ministry of Education staff member who inspects a licensed program and decides whether it meets the Act and the regulation. Also called the licensing inspector.
Readiness score: KeepCount’s share of tracked requirements currently met, computed from the organization’s own records. It shows the state of the records; the Ministry decides compliance.
RECE: A Registered Early Childhood Educator, a member in good standing of the College of Early Childhood Educators. Schedule 1 sets how many of a room’s employees must be qualified; a qualified employee is an RECE or someone a director has approved, and for school-age groups also a child and youth care or recreation graduate or an Ontario College of Teachers member (s. 54). O. Reg. 137/15 s. 54, Schedule 1
Retention: How long records are kept. The regulation requires most records for at least three years from the date they were made, and a child’s records, attendance included, for three years after the child leaves; KeepCount keeps them that long and refuses to delete them earlier. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 72(5), 82
Schedule 1: The table in O. Reg. 137/15 that sets, for each age group in a centre, the ratio of employees to children, the maximum group size and the share of employees who must be qualified. Infant 3 to 10, toddler 1 to 5, preschool 1 to 8, kindergarten 1 to 13, primary/junior 1 to 15, junior 1 to 20. O. Reg. 137/15 s. 8, Schedule 1
Serious occurrence: The death of a child in care; abuse, neglect or an allegation of either; a life-threatening injury or illness; a child missing or temporarily unsupervised; or an unplanned disruption that puts children at risk. Reported to the Ministry within 24 hours of the licensee or supervisor becoming aware, with a summary posted for 10 business days. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 1, 38
Service system manager (CMSM / DSSAB): The municipality or district board that plans and funds child care locally, enrols licensees in CWELCC and reconciles their funding.
Vulnerable sector check (VSC): A police record check for people who will work with children, prepared by a police service within the six months before the licensee obtains it. Required before an employee, provider or volunteer starts and renewed on or before every fifth anniversary. O. Reg. 137/15 ss. 59–62