Child Care
Find out if you qualify for child care assistance in Northumberland County and learn more about what child care options are available.
Child care fee subsidy
We offer child care fee subsidy for those who qualify. You may qualify if you are working, going to school, receiving Ontario Works or have a child with special needs. Fee subsidy helps pay same or all of the cost of childcare to one of the many licensed child care options in Northumberland.
Ontario Works child care assistance
If you receive Ontario Works, you may qualify for fee subsidy assistance. To learn more, please contact your caseworker directly.
Child care options in Northumberland
Licensed child care centres |
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Home child care agencies |
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Compass Early Learning and Care*533 Bonaccord Street, Peterborough, ON Wee Watch Northumberland*113 Park Street South, Peterborough |
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Nursery school programs |
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St. Peter’s Pre-School Learning Centre* |
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Approved recreational programs |
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YMCA Northumberland*50 Seymour Quarry Road, Campbellford 905-372-0161 339 Elgin Street, West, Cobourg 170 Main Street, Brighton |
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Special needs resource programs |
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Five Counties Children's Centre800 Division Street, Cobourg |
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Licensed first nations programs |
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Alderville First Nation Day Care*8913B County Road 45, Roseneath |
* Enrolled in Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program.
Expanding Child Care in Northumberland
Under the Access and Inclusion Framework, the Ministry of Education developed a model to allocate funding for new spaces for children aged 0-5 across Consolidated Municipal Service Managers (CMSMs)/District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSABs). The Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) System focuses on working toward a common provincial access ratio of 37%.
The model is based on available data and incorporates:
- existing child care capacity
- demographics
- socioeconomic indicators
- official language minorities
- capacity for growth
Northumberland's framework
The Ministry of Education has allocated 404 spaces to be created in Northumberland County. The Ministry’s goal is to have 37% access to licensed child care across the province.
Northumberland County has developed a framework to determine where to prioritize the 404 targeted growth spaces. The framework used existing child care capacity, demand for child care, demographic information, projected growth, and socioeconomic factors to rank each municipality. The rankings for each factor were combined to determine where to prioritized new child care spaces.
The neighbourhood rankings, from highest to lowest priority, are:
- Cobourg
- Trent Hills
- Port Hope
- Brighton
- Alnwick/Haldimand
- Cramahe
- Hamilton
Early Learning and Child Care Services Plan
In 2018, Northumberland County’s Early Years Services Division initiated a comprehensive community engagement project to identify priorities, actions, and indicators of success for the Early Years Sector. The result of this consultation was the creation of a rich and ambitious Early Learning and Child Care Service Plan to guide the system from 2019 through to 2024.
View the Early Learning and Child Care Services Plan Update
Child care operators: Apply to join CWELCC
At this time, all growth targets to expand the CWELCC system have been met for 2024 in Northumberland County. The County is in the initial phases of planning for 2025 and is awaiting further direction from the Ministry of Education regarding CWELCC expansion targets and funding. If you are interested in applying, please fill out our CWELCC Expression of Interest Form.