Waterloo Region has issued a reminder to parents in the area that participating licensed child-care centres in the area will be closed on Monday as staff take part in a professional development (PD) day.
It says staff will join thousands of others from several regions taking part in a virtual event being hosted by Chatham-Kent.
“We are excited to provide this Professional Development Day on May 9, 2022 for early years and child care staff to support their learning and well-being,” Barb Cardow, the director of Children’s Services for the region, stated. “We greatly appreciate parents’ understanding and support of educators and their efforts to provide quality programming for their children.”
A number of specialists in child education and other areas have been lined up to provide virtual lectures for those working in the field.
Monday’s PD Day will be one of the first-ever in Ontario as a new program has been introduced with funding from the federal government that is being implemented by the province.
The initiative was first announced in February, and although parents will not be charged for daycare Monday, they will still need to find alternative care.
Aside from Waterloo Region and Chatham-Kent, other municipalities that are expected to take part in the virtual daycare session include Brantford, London, St. Thomas and Niagara Region as well as the counties of Elgin, Brant, Grey, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Oxford, Simcoe and Norfolk County.