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Ontario child care licensing, explained
Plain-language guides to what the regulation asks and what an inspector reads, each with the section numbers and the date it was checked against e-Laws. Free to read, no sign-up. Two free calculators do the arithmetic and a checklist does the ticking.
Free tools
Ratio and group size calculator
Enter the children in a room and see the Schedule 1 staffing, the maximum group size and the mixed-age rule, or the s. 8.1 calculation for a family age group.
Ready for 2027 checklist
The changes O. Reg. 197/26 brings into force on January 1, 2027, as a checklist you can tick off and print.
Screening dates calculator
Enter the date of a vulnerable sector check and see when the next check and each yearly offence declaration are due under s. 62.
Guides
What a licensing inspector checks
The records a program advisor asks for at an Ontario child care licensing visit, with the section of O. Reg. 137/15 behind each one, and how to have them ready.
The January 1, 2027 changes to O. Reg. 137/15
What O. Reg. 197/26 adds on January 1, 2027: supervision policies with counting rules, a named stand-in for the supervisor, missing-child policies and drills, training on every policy, new site requirements for centres, and hazard and septic rules for home child care premises.
Ratios and group sizes in Ontario child care centres
Schedule 1 ratios and group sizes by age group, the mixed-age rule, when ratios may be reduced, when the supervisor counts, and how family age group staffing is calculated under s. 8.1.
Serious occurrences: what counts and the 24-hour rule
The five kinds of serious occurrence in O. Reg. 137/15, the 24-hour report, the 10 business days of posting, and how the daily written record differs.
Vulnerable sector checks and offence declarations: the timeline
When a vulnerable sector check is required, how recent it must be, the five-year renewal, the yearly offence declaration due within 15 days of the anniversary, and the rules for breaks, students, volunteers and people under 18.
Fire drills, emergency procedures and the records to keep
Monthly fire drills under s. 68, the fire chief’s approval, the 12-month record, emergency management policies under s. 68.1, and the missing-child drills that start in 2027.
Sleep supervision and direct visual checks
What s. 33.1 requires: safe sleep for children under 12 months, direct visual checks for sleeping infants and toddlers, enough light, and a written sleep policy that says how often checks happen and how they are recorded.
Records and retention: what to keep and for how long
The records O. Reg. 137/15 requires for each child, the attendance records, the three-year retention rule in s. 82, the 12-month drill records, and what electronic record-keeping has to satisfy.
Home visits: what a home child care agency must do each quarter
The home child care visitor’s inspections under s. 26: before a premises is used and at least once in every quarter without notice, with the director’s checklist and a record of each visit, plus the register, screening and health rules for each home.
CWELCC: the records an enrolled licensee keeps
What O. Reg. 137/15 says about the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System: the agreement kept on site, the $22 base fee cap, refunds within 60 days, and the records a reconciliation asks for.
Checked against O. Reg. 137/15 as consolidated on e-Laws (current to September 28, 2026; last amendment O. Reg. 197/26). These guides explain the regulation; they are not legal advice, and the Ministry’s program advisors decide compliance.
KeepCount updates by email
A few emails a year: when the software changes, when Ontario's child care rules change, and when a new guide is published. Nothing else.