Police investigate death of baby at unlicensed Toronto daycare

ABOVE: Police are investigating the death of a 4-month-old boy at an unlicensed daycare. The cause of death is undetermined. It’s the fourth incident in GTA in seven months. Mark Carcasole reports.

TORONTO – Toronto police are investigating the death of a four-month-old baby boy after he was found at a home daycare in north end Toronto on Valentine’s Day.

The Toronto Star reports the child was discovered without vital signs at an unlicensed home daycare inside an apartment building on 20 Boardoaks Drive near Keele Street and Finch Avenue West.

Toronto police confirm the boy was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Education Minister Liz Sandals said both police and her ministry are investigating, adding that there has been no record of complaints about the facility.

There have been three infant deaths recorded in unlicensed Ontario daycares within the last seven months.

Isaac Zisckind, a lawyer at Diamond & Diamond, says all childcare centres should be regulated to avoid further incidents.

“There should be no option for unregulated daycare,” Zisckind told Global News reporter Mark Carcasole.

“We get calls day in and day out for kids that are injured, kids that have allergic reactions,” Zisckind said.

“Unfortunately a lot of those complaints go unanswered if they’re minor in nature,” he added.

Last year, the provincial government tabled new legislation that included capping the number of children allowed in an unlicensed daycare at five and instituting stiffer fines for offending operators.

The move came after a two-year-old girl died at an unlicensed Vaughan home daycare in July, another two-year-old drowned in her babysitter’s condo and a nine-month-old child in Markham in November.

It’s estimated that 80 per cent of children are in unlicensed daycares.