The Region of Waterloo is planning to implement a temporary halt on the approval of any new grants for subsidized child care.
Once the halt is in place, people applying for the grants would instead by put on a wait list.
Regional officials say two similar freezes have been implemented in the past 11 years.
Each of those freezes was lifted after a matter of month. It is expected that the same will happen this time, with children instead being placed on a wait list for now and granted subsidies starting in January.
Regional officials say continuing to approve grants would leave them $350,000 over their budget by the end of the year, due to increasing demand for the program.
The province funds 80 per cent of the subsidies, with the region on the hook for the remaining 20 per cent.
But there is a limit to the number of subsidies the province will fund in a year. Anything beyond that limit falls solely on Waterloo Region’s taxpayers.
“We just don’t have a blank cheque that we can write,” said Regional Chair Ken Seiling.
Regional councillors will see the proposal Tuesday. They do not have to specifically vote on the matter, as their approval is not needed for the subsidies to be frozen.
The halt would not affect the approximately 3,100 children already receiving subsidies.
With reporting by Alexandra Pinto
