The 3 Documents Every Ontario Child Care Centre Needs Before a Family's First Day

Before a new family's child ever sets foot in your centre, three documents need to already exist. Something that collects what you need to know about the child. Something that spells out what the family will pay and when. And something that tells them how your centre actually operates.

Most centres end up building these piecemeal. Borrowing a form from a colleague, adapting something from a previous job, patching gaps as licensing visits or parent questions surface them. The problem with that approach is that the gaps only become visible at the worst possible moments: during an emergency, a billing dispute, a licensing visit, or a CMSM compliance review.

We have built all three as fully customizable Ontario-specific templates. Here is what each one needs to do and why it matters more than it looks.

The Application for Enrolment

The Application for Enrolment is the intake record for a child before their first day. Full legal name, date of birth, home address, parent and guardian contact information, emergency contacts, custody arrangements if applicable, immunization records, allergy and medical information, and authorization for who is allowed to pick the child up.

You use it once at admission and then reference it constantly for as long as the child is enrolled. It is what staff pull up when a child needs picking up by someone unfamiliar, when there is a medical situation, or when an emergency contact needs to be reached.

This is the centre's responsibility to maintain accurately. Ontario licensing requirements require operators to keep a complete, current record for every enrolled child. That means this is not paperwork you collect once and file away. It needs to be updated as families move, change jobs, or update emergency contacts. And it needs to be complete before the child's first day, not filled in gradually afterward.

For operators enrolled in CWELCC, complete and accurate enrolment records are also the foundation of your eligible child ratio calculation. The ratio of eligible to ineligible children in your centre affects your supervisor component, your eligible cost split if you serve both age groups, and your base fee revenue reporting. An enrollment record that does not clearly document a child's age group and eligibility status creates problems at reconciliation that could have been avoided on day one.

The Fee Agreement

The Fee Agreement is the contract that sets out what a family will pay, how, and under what conditions. Payment method and due dates, late payment and NSF fees, what happens with sick days and statutory holidays, notice required to withdraw a child from care, and how fee increases will be communicated.

It is signed at enrolment alongside the intake paperwork and referenced any time there is a billing question or a dispute about what was agreed to. Vague or missing terms here do not just create confusion. They create the kind of disagreement that damages a relationship with a family over something a clear, signed agreement would have settled on day one.

For Ontario operators enrolled in CWELCC, the Fee Agreement carries an obligation that most generic templates have no idea exists. Your fees are subject to the cap set under O. Reg. 137/15, currently $22 per day for eligible children. Your Fee Agreement must accurately reflect those capped rates. A fee agreement that does not account for CWELCC fee cap requirements leaves you exposed if a family disputes the amount charged, if a CMSM reviews your parent handbook and fee documentation at reconciliation, or if you are selected for a Direct Engagement to Report on Compliance.

The templates we have built are written with CWELCC fee cap requirements in mind. A generic template is not.

The Parent Handbook

The Parent Handbook is the full picture of how your centre runs. Hours and closures, safe arrival and pick-up procedures, illness and medication policies, behaviour guidance, your process for handling parent concerns, and the health and safety practices that keep children safe day to day.

It is given to families at or before enrolment and referenced any time a question comes up about how the centre handles a particular situation. It is also the document most likely to be reviewed during a licensing visit, a CMSM compliance review, or a dispute.

The Parent Handbook matters specifically for CWELCC operators for a reason most operators do not know: your parent handbook is an input into your Program Cost Allocation. The number of service days in your allocation is calculated based on the service days stated in your parent handbook. The base fee rate used to calculate your Expected Base Fee Revenue Offset must reflect the fees stated in your parent handbook. If your parent handbook is out of date, inconsistent with your operating plan, or does not clearly state your service days and fee structure, it creates discrepancies at the allocation stage that compound at reconciliation.

A handbook that describes a process you do not actually follow is worse than having a shorter, accurate one. The gap between what is written and what actually happens is exactly what surfaces during a complaint or an inspection. Write it accurately, keep it current, and make sure your CMSM has the most recent version on file.

Built for Ontario, Useful Anywhere

These templates were built against Ontario's specific child care licensing requirements under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 and O. Reg. 137/15, which produced more complete documents than templates written to no particular regulatory standard.

If you are licensed outside Ontario, the specific citations in these templates will not apply directly and you should verify your own jurisdiction's requirements. But the underlying structure reflects the same fundamental questions every licensed child care operator has to answer: what information do you need about every enrolled child, what does a family need to agree to in writing before their child starts, and what does your centre need to tell families about how it operates.

Each template is fully customizable. Add your logo, your centre's details, and your own policies. Available individually or as a bundle.

Looking for support beyond documents? ChildcareFundingIQ also offers a free CWELCC funding calculator and direct consulting services for Ontario operators navigating cost reviews, reconciliation, and 2027 allocation planning.