How to Find Daycare in Toronto - A Parent's Guide
Toronto has over 1,000 licensed childcare centres and 24 home child care agencies serving children from birth to age 12 [1]. That sounds like plenty until you start looking and realize every one of them has a waitlist, especially for infants. The city's childcare search is less about finding a centre and more about getting your name on enough lists, early enough, that the math eventually works out.
Here's how the system actually works, and how to give yourself the best shot at landing a spot.
How Toronto's Childcare System Is Structured
Toronto's licensed childcare falls into a few categories. There are city-operated centres run by Toronto Early Learning and Child Care Services. Then there are private licensed centres, which are independently run but meet the same provincial standards. And there are licensed home child care agencies, where providers operate out of their own homes under an agency's supervision [1].
All licensed providers must meet Ontario's Child Care and Early Years Act requirements: staff-to-child ratios, qualified ECE staffing, regular inspections, health and safety standards. Whether the centre is run by the city, a non-profit, or a for-profit chain, the baseline regulations are the same.
Our data from Ontario's public registry shows the breakdown for Toronto: 952 licensed centres plus 24 home child care agencies [2]. The city's own website rounds that up to "over 1,000," which likely counts centres with multiple programs separately.
Language is worth noting. Most Toronto centres operate in English (951 out of 976 in the provincial data), but 35 offer French programming, and you'll find smaller numbers offering Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, Filipino, and other languages [2].
The OneList Waitlist System
Toronto uses a centralized waitlist called OneList. You create an account, enter your child's details, and add yourself to the waitlists at any centres you're interested in. It costs approximately $28.65 as a one-time registration fee [3].
A few things to know about OneList that the website doesn't make obvious:
You can (and should) add yourself to multiple centres at once. There's no limit. Parents who put themselves on five or six lists have a much better chance of getting a spot than parents who pick one dream centre and wait.
Getting on the list doesn't guarantee anything. The waitlist is essentially a queue, and centres fill spots based on their own priorities. Some prioritize siblings of current children. Others give preference to families in the neighbourhood. City-operated centres may prioritize subsidized families.
Start early. The city itself says it plainly: "Get on the wait list early to secure a spot" [1]. For infant care, that means getting on the list while you're pregnant, or even before. Waiting until your parental leave is winding down almost guarantees you'll be scrambling.
What Are the Waitlists Like?
Toronto's waitlists are among the longest in Canada. Infant care (under 18 months) commonly runs one to two years. Toddler spots (18 months to 2.5 years) typically mean eight to eighteen months of waiting. Preschool-age spots are shorter, often six to twelve months, and before-and-after school care can sometimes be secured within weeks [3].
The CWELCC fee reductions have made things worse, not better, when it comes to access. Lower fees mean more families can afford licensed care, which drives up demand. Meanwhile, Ontario has only created about 39,000 of the 86,000 new spaces it promised, and an ECE staffing shortage means even some existing spaces can't be filled [4].
What Does It Cost?
Thanks to CWELCC, childcare in Toronto is dramatically cheaper than it was a few years ago. The program caps daily fees at $22 across all age groups for participating centres, and most licensed centres in the city participate (about 92% of licensed spaces provincewide are enrolled in CWELCC) [4].
| Age Group | Pre-CWELCC Average | Current (2026) | |---|---|---| | Infant (0-18 months) | ~$75/day | $22/day (cap) | | Toddler (18-30 months) | ~$58/day | $19-22/day | | Preschool (30 months-5 years) | ~$51/day | $17-22/day |
At the $22 cap, full-time infant care runs about $484 per month. Compare that to the $1,700-$2,200 per month families were paying before 2022 [5]. The savings are substantial; the federal government estimates $7,000 per year per child in Ontario [6].
If your household income makes even $22 per day a stretch, Toronto offers a separate child care fee subsidy. More on that in our Ontario Childcare Subsidy Guide.
How to Search Effectively
Use multiple tools. Start with the City of Toronto's A to Z list of licensed centres [1]. Cross-reference with Ontario's EarlyYears search tool [7] and our own PinSpots directory. Each shows slightly different information.
Check quality ratings. Toronto runs an Assessment for Quality Improvement (AQI) program that evaluates centres on programming, learning environment, and interactions [8]. These ratings show up on the A to Z list. One caveat: only centres with a service agreement with the city get assessed. Privately operated centres without a city agreement may be perfectly good but won't have a rating.
Visit in person. No quality rating or Google review replaces an actual visit. Watch how staff interact with children. Look at the outdoor space. Ask about turnover. The AQI is a snapshot of a single day; your gut after a 30-minute tour tells you more.
Think geographically. Family-heavy neighbourhoods like Leslieville, Liberty Village, and Bloor West Village tend to have the worst waitlist-to-capacity ratios. If you have any flexibility on location, expanding your search radius by even a few blocks can open up options.
Consider home daycares. Licensed home child care operates under the same agency oversight as centres but with smaller groups. Waitlists tend to be shorter, and the setting can feel more personal for young children.
Quick Reference: Key Toronto Childcare Resources
| Resource | Link | |---|---| | OneList (centralized waitlist) | onelist.ca | | City of Toronto Licensed Child Care | toronto.ca | | A to Z Centre List | toronto.ca/data/children | | Quality Ratings (AQI) | toronto.ca | | Fee Subsidy Information | toronto.ca | | CWELCC Info for Families | toronto.ca | | Ontario Child Care Search | ontario.ca |
Start now, cast a wide net, and don't put all your hopes on one centre. Toronto's childcare system rewards persistence and early planning more than anything else.
References
[1] City of Toronto - Licensed Child Care
[2] Ontario Licensed Child Care Open Data
[3] OneList Toronto
[4] Ontario Extends $10-a-Day Child Care Plan
[5] How Much Does Daycare Cost in Ontario (2025)
[6] Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care