College childcare centre offers parents a place for their kids and students a chance to learn.

Balancing the roles of being a parent and student is no small feat. It inevitably calls for extra support for caring, and educating children.  

George Brown College’s (GBC) early education career training operates its childcare centres as an effort to provide childcare to support its students. 

Bernice Cipparrone-McLeod, interim director of the school of early childhood at GBC says, “It’s an opportunity to really promote optimal child development, learning and growth. It’s an opportunity for children to learn about the world to engage in play-based learning, inquiry-based learning, so opportunity for our children to really explore their selves, their identity, their social cultural identity.” 

There are a total of 12 childcare centres in a variety of facilities across Toronto. The centres offer early learning and care for children ranging from infants to school-aged. 

Cipparrone-McLeod also characterizes the childcare centres as “exemplary lab schools” for students enrolled in the School of Early Childhood at GBC.  

These centres not only facilitate work-integrated learning within the sector but also function as training grounds, where college students gain hands-on experience working with children and families, an integral part of completing their practical coursework. 

GBC childcare centres are licensed and regulated under the Ministry of Education. They undergo regular inspections to ensure compliance with stringent regulations, including staff-to-child ratio, program quality, and safety standards.  

Cipparrone-McLeod emphasizes that the process of learning in their childcare centres aligns with Ontario’s pedagogical document How Does Learning Happen.  

“How Does Learning Happen is built on four principles. It’s about really supporting children’s sense of belonging, by promoting their self-expression, by engaging students… promoting a sense of wellbeing. So, all the various activities are really based around a number of pedagogical principles,” she says.  

The centres pride themselves on having a faculty that brings various expertise such as research skills and policy knowledge.  

“It means that we can offer a lot of in-service continuous professional learning, and because we are so connected to community… government and other community organizations, we can also draw on them, there’s a lot of reciprocity and exchange of knowledge, knowledge dissemination that really again promotes our students learning and promotes quality experiences for our children and our families,” Cipparrone-McLeod said.  

Most recently, the staff were engaged in training on trauma informed practices. The centre also previously received funding from the City of Toronto to hire resource consultants for provision of specialized care for children with special needs.  

The current cost of registration for children ranges from $29.86 per day for preschoolers to $45.48 per day for infants.  

While still expensive, Cipparrone-McLeod says these fees are a reduction from previous prices.  

“A full price previously would have been $100. childcare has historically been extremely expensive, both in Ontario and BC… the full cost of childcare is really quite expensive,” Cipparrone-McLeod explains. 

She added that the federal government, having recognized the expensive nature of childcare has been working to reduce costs by providing childcare subsidies to families.  

Childcare centres are then able to determine whether to accept families receiving subsidy or not.  

GBC childcare centres accepts both subsidized and full-fee families. 

Priority for enrolment in the GBC childcare centres is given to staff and students of the college, depending on the date of application, age of child, and siblings already in the centre. 

More information on enrolment or related information on childcare subsidies can be found on their website https://www.georgebrown.ca/community-services-early-childhood/early-childhood/learning-environment/child-care-centres