Can an unlicensed daycare be part of CWELCC?

No. Only licensed/regulated child care can enrol â licensed centres, and home providers operating under a licensed agency (Ontario) or holding a family child care licence (BC, Alberta and others). An unlicensed provider advertising "$10/day" is simply setting a low price, with none of the program’s oversight.

My centre is licensed but my fee did not go down. Why?

Three common reasons: the program chose not to enrol in CWELCC (participation is voluntary), your child is six or older (reductions target under-6 care), or you are looking at extra charges (late pickup, meals, field trips) that sit outside the capped base fee. Ask the director which applies.

Does CWELCC apply to before/after school care?

No — fee reductions apply to children under six. School-age programs charge regular fees, though income-tested subsidy may still help.

Is My Daycare Part of CWELCC? How to Check (Every Province, 2026)

The fastest way to find out is to ask — but here's how to verify the answer, because "we offer affordable care" and "we are enrolled in CWELCC" are very different sentences.

The three-step check

Is it licensed? Every province publishes a licensed child care registry/search. If the program isn't in it, stop — it cannot be in CWELCC.
Ask the magic question: "Are you enrolled in CWELCC?" (in BC: "Are you a $10-a-Day site, or in the Fee Reduction Initiative?"). Enrolled operators know exactly what this means and will answer instantly. Vague answers are themselves an answer.
Check the official list. Ontario municipalities (Toronto, Peel, Ottawa, etc.) publish participating-program lists; BC publishes the $10-a-Day site list; Alberta publishes affordability-grant participants. Search your municipality + "CWELCC list".

What the invoice should look like

At an enrolled program, the reduction is on the invoice itself — you pay the reduced base fee, full stop. You should not need to pay full price and claim something back, and there's no CWELCC paperwork with your name on it. (Keep receipts anyway — reduced fees are still tax-deductible child care expenses.)

Red flags

"$10/day" advertised by an unlicensed home daycare — legal as a price, but it carries no licensing oversight and no funding rules.
A "discount" that requires cash payment or skips receipts — that's a provider avoiding records, not a government program.
Base fee fine print: enrolled programs have capped base fees, but optional extras can be charged — make sure you know which is which.

For operators reading this

If parents keep asking you this question, put the answer on your website and intake forms — "We are enrolled in CWELCC; your fee is $X/day" converts tours like nothing else. Mitten's invoicing shows the reduced fee cleanly per family, so the paper trail parents (and auditors) want is automatic.

Run your daycare on Mitten — free to start

Mitten does everything in this guide — daily reports, photos, messaging, billing, even payroll prep — free for your first 5 children, then just $20/mo + $2 per child.

Start free — no card needed → See the live demo

Frequently asked questions

Can an unlicensed daycare be part of CWELCC?: No. Only licensed/regulated child care can enrol â licensed centres, and home providers operating under a licensed agency (Ontario) or holding a family child care licence (BC, Alberta and others). An unlicensed provider advertising "$10/day" is simply setting a low price, with none of the program’s oversight.
My centre is licensed but my fee did not go down. Why?: Three common reasons: the program chose not to enrol in CWELCC (participation is voluntary), your child is six or older (reductions target under-6 care), or you are looking at extra charges (late pickup, meals, field trips) that sit outside the capped base fee. Ask the director which applies.
Does CWELCC apply to before/after school care?: No — fee reductions apply to children under six. School-age programs charge regular fees, though income-tested subsidy may still help.