No, you do not need to be currently providing home child care to be considered. However, being an existing home child care provider may speed up the process of becoming a contracted home child care provider with the YMCA. We are looking for individuals who are interested in providing child care within their homes under our licensed agency.

If you love to work with children, you have experience with children 0-12 (family, employment, volunteering), and you are 18 or older, you are a good candidate.
As a YMCA home child provider, you are inspired to care for children by offering nurturing, personalized quality child care in their home. If you enjoy supporting children's learning through exploration, play and inquiry, and are able to provide a home environment for children to grow and develop, you are a candidate we want to connect with.
You will receive professional support, guidance and resources to help get started, if you become a home child care provider with the YMCA of Greater Toronto.

The process to become a home child care provider contracted by the YMCA takes approximately four–eight weeks. This will depend on the time it takes for the home provider applicant to:

• Complete agency screening — interview for suitability, personal reference checks, home visits for safety, fire inspection and verified Vulnerable Sector Check for themselves and anyone else in the household who is 18 or older.
• Submit up-to-date immunization records and health assessments for themselves and anyone else in the home.
• Obtain Commercial General Liability Insurance and Standard Auto (if using vehicle for transporting children)
• Provide required certifications — Standard First Aid including Infant/Child CPR and Food Handlers Certification.
• Purchase of any equipment required.

After being contracted, home child care providers will undergo training on YMCA policies and procedures, along with Ministry regulations and Municipal requirements. They will also receive guidance in setting up their home environment and support with the enrollment and registration of children into their home before their first official day of offering YMCA services.

We would be happy to have your families come join you at the YMCA. Your existing families would need to re-register with the Y and would be charged the fees that the Y charges.

Funding is available to supplement a home child care provider’s income, and if you meet eligibility requirements then we will apply on your behalf. Please note that we operate home child care in different regions and not all funding is available in each region.

Yes, pets are allowed in your home. Pets need to be fully vaccinated and we would want to ensure that they, and their living environments, are hygienic and clean for children.

No, you would not receive any benefits since you are not an employee of the YMCA.

The following individuals who are 18 or older require a vulnerable sector check: The home child care provider, students and volunteers, persons who are ordinarily residents of the premises or regularly at the premises, home child care visitors and employees of the home child care agency. Anyone who is in your home and will be in contact with the children during the hours you operate your home child care business will require a police check.

Show that your home is a safe and healthy place for children
A contracted Home Child Care Provider is required to have:

• A police vulnerable sector check for everyone in the home 18 and older
• Commercial General Liability Insurance
• Standard Auto Insurance and valid driver’s license if using your vehicle to transport the children
• Smoke detectors on each floor of your home. And Home Child Care Providers are also required to have a fire extinguisher, a First Aid Kit, and a carbon monoxide detector near the sleeping area
• Health assessment and immunizations as recommended by the local medical officer of health for everyone in the home, and all children in care. 
• Current rabies inoculations for all dogs, cats and ferrets
• Appropriate areas for indoor and outdoor play, sleeping, eating, toileting, and diapering
• A child-friendly environment that includes a clean and child-proofed home, child-sized furniture , toys, materials and equipment for children 0–13
• Nutritious snacks and meals in keeping with Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating hc-sc.gc.ca
• Adhere to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 that prohibits smoking tobacco or cannabis, or vaping anything in a place that provides home child care, even if the children are not present. This includes any outdoor space. Review the Ontario Government's resource, Where you can’t smoke or vape in Ontario for more information
• A working telephone onsite
• Programming for children planned and implemented in accordance with "How Does Learning Happen: Ontario's Pedagogy for the Early Years" (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/pedagogy.html)

A YMCA Home Consultant supports each home child care provider throughout the application process.

YMCA Home Consultants are Registered Early Childhood Educators who are trained in early childhood education and have extensive knowledge of child development and the rules and regulations of licensed child care.

A YMCA Home Consultant screens, approves and monitors licensed home child care providers and assists with application process. They're check all homes to make sure that they safe for children before children are enrolled.

They also check in monthly to make sure home providers are following the provincial requirements and the agency’s policies and procedures.

The amount you can make monthly depends on the region in which your home is located. Families are charged a daily rate times the number of days for that month that they are registered to attend. As a home child care provider, you are not taxed on the fees that are collected. To inquire more about what the daily rates are in your city, email us.

It would depend on where you live as each municipality has bylaws. If there is no related bylaw, then it would depend on your space and if you have access to emergency exits.

Commercial General Liability Insurance policy provides payment in the event of a liability loss: that negligent act resulting from bodily injury, property damage, or death.  

It protects your business against liabilities that arise from your daily operations of a home child care provider. 

You can expect to pay $450 to $1,350 annually, however it’s best to reach out to your own insurance company to inquire about rates.

No, you're not required to have an Early Childhood Education diploma to become a home child care provider. We are looking for individuals who love working with children and families; and have previous experience working or volunteering with children and families between the ages of 0-12.