Employer Provided Childcare
Interestingly enough, there is no taxable benefit in the hands of the employee in cases where:

• the employer establishes an in-house childcare facility or leases space to provide a childcare facility off premises,
• the employer pays for all operating expenses of that facility and
• the facility is available to all employees either free of charge or for a minimal fee.

The childcare facility must be available to all employees and not just to a group such as management and, furthermore, all parents using the centre must be charged the same discounted fees.

Workplace childcare centres often result in significant costs to employers. Even though these costs are deductible from business income the employer costs are often perceived to exceed the benefits of providing subsidized workplace childcare. Consequently, employer subsidized workplace childcare centres tend to be few and far between and the generous tax provisions available to employees are rarely taken advantage of.

Employer Subsidized Childcare
Amounts paid by employers directly to an employee to defray childcare costs incurred by the employee will result in a taxable benefit to him or her. For example, if an employee receives $10/day from an employer to help defray the $30/day cost of toddler care then the $10/day will be taxed in the hands of the employee. The full cost of care paid for by the employee of $30/day is, however, eligible for the childcare expense deduction noted in the article “Deducting Childcare Expenses”.

It is important to note that from a cash standpoint employees are always better off having employers defray childcare expenses to whatever extent possible. For example, an employee receiving a $10/day taxable benefit could have their childcare cash outlay reduced by $6/day ($10 received from the employer less additional tax payable of $4). This assumes the allowance does not result in a reduction in their base pay. Employees not receiving the taxable allowance will have to come up with an additional $6/day out of their own pocket.

From the employer’s standpoint the full amount of any childcare allowance should be deductible as an employment expense against business income for tax purposes.

Childcare provided to centre staff
Some centres provide either free or discounted childcare to centre staff who have children. There are a number of compelling psychological advantages to staff for having their children looked after at their place of work.

However, the childcare centre must factor a staff discount policy into its fee assumptions when preparing its monthly cash flow forecast. Several staff might take advantage of this policy at once thereby significantly reducing fee revenue.

Discounts and/or free childcare will result in a taxable benefit to the employee equal to the difference between normal fees charged by the centre and amounts actually paid by the staff. Cash flow advantages are similar to those noted above.

Deductibility of employer subsidized fees
Please note that childcare expenses are only eligible for the childcare expense deduction to the extent that they have been paid by the taxpayer. If an employer pays a subsidy directly to a centre then the employee may only deduct the amount of the fees they actually pay to the centre. For example, if stated pre-schooler fees are $25/day and because of an employer subsidy an employee only has to pay $15/day then only the $15/day is eligible to be deducted as a childcare expense by the employee. On the other hand, if an employee were to pay the full $25/day to the childcare centre and then be reimbursed $10/day by the employer then the employee would be able to deduct the full $25/day as a childcare expense up to the maximum allowed. Note that in both cases the employee will have to include the $10/day subsidy in taxable income.

Summary
In summary, employees are almost always better off having their employer either fully pay or partly defray the costs of their childcare. A tax deduction to the employee is only available for amounts paid in the year to the childcare provider. Consequently, employees should arrange to be reimbursed personally by the employer for any cost defrayment.

What expenses are deductible?
Deductible childcare expenses include:

• all costs of day nursery care and babysitting
• for camps and boarding schools an amount is allowable. Visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t778/t778-09e.pdf for the amounts deductible
• generally, childcare payments made to any person who is a deemed resident in Canada except:
  • the father or mother of the child
  • a person under the age of 18 who is related to a parent of the child (for example, a sibling)
  • a supporting person who either claims a dependant deduction for the child or deducts the child care expenses of the child

When may expenses be deducted?
Childcare expenses may only be deducted in the year in which they have been paid. If you pay for December care in January or later then you are not able to deduct that care in the December year; you must wait until the following year. Consequently, it is important for supporting persons to ensure that childcare payments are up-to-date each year in order to be eligible for the maximum deduction.

Expenses must be supported by receipts even though the receipts need not be filed with the taxpayer’s personal tax return. The receipts should include:

• the name of the organization or person providing care (if it is an individual then their Social Insurance Number must also be included)
• the names of the supporting person and child
• the amount paid for childcare in the year
• the date of the payments
• the signature of the person who provided the childcare services or a signature on behalf of the day nursery.

Not receiving a receipt does not mean that you are denied the deduction for childcare. It does, however, mean that you will have a more difficult time supporting your claim should Canada Customs and Revenue Agency ask for proof of payment.

How much may be deducted?
The maximum annual deduction available to parents is the lesser of:

• See http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t778/t778-09e.pdf for the amounts deductible this year.
• Two-thirds of the earned income of the person claiming the deduction. Earned income as defined in the Income Tax Act includes:
  • wages, salaries and related taxable benefits
  • profit sharing received from employment earnings
  • certain disability payments payable under the Canada Pension Plan
  • certain training allowances
  • taxable amounts of research grants, bursaries and fellowships

Who may claim the deduction?
The supporting person (not to be confused with the “parent”) with the lowest net income before the childcare deduction is the only person that may claim the expenses. Note that claiming childcare may be beneficial even if one of the members of a couple has no tax to pay. Claiming the deduction could increase the spousal/common law deduction available where one of the tax paying partners earns between approximately less than the maximum threshold per year even though the low income earner has no tax to pay.

An exception to the low income earner being the only one eligible to claim the expense occurs in two partner families where one of the partners is a full-time student while the other is in the work force. In this case, the working partner may claim the deduction while the other is at school. Full-time attendance at school is defined as enrolment in an educational program that lasts at least three weeks and requires that the individual spend at least ten hours a week on courses or work in the program.

Effective July 1, 1999 responsibility for funding and distribution of salary grants has been downloaded to local area service providers. This, in most cases, is the municipality involved (e.g. City of Toronto, Region of York). We have been informed by representatives of the City of Toronto that, for the present, there will be no changes in rules governing distribution of wage subsidies to childcare staff.

For your information, we are quoting verbatim Sections III through V of the Ministry of Community and Social Services Guidelines and Procedures for Childcare Wage Subsidy. These sections specify (or leave vague as the case may be) rules for distribution of wage subsidies. We recommend that you compare your centre’s method of distribution with these rules and regulations and ensure that your centre is in compliance with the current municipal wage subsidy guidelines.

Sections III through V of the Ministry of Community and Social Services Guidelines and Procedures for Childcare Wage Subsidy

III. PERSONS ELIGIBLE
Wage subsidy is intended to improve the salary and benefit levels of employees working in a child care program and amounts paid to home child care providers. With respect to persons working in an eligible child care program, the people who should benefit are those who fill permanent positions (full or part-time).

The following list notes some of the types of permanent positions that are typically found in a child care program:

• Trained and untrained teachers
• Supervisors/Administrators
• Home Visitors
• Resource Teachers
• Clerical Staff
• Cooks
• Housekeeping and Janitorial Staff
• Bus Drivers

A permanent position (full or part-time) is one which is part of a program’s regular staffing component or under contract as a home child care provider. For example, a child care program offers a music program for six months of every year and employs an individual to conduct the six month program every year. This position is a permanent position. If however, a program offers a music program on a one time basis only, the position would not be considered permanent. That individual would be working on a short term project for the child care program. The full-time equivalent is required for full and part-time positions. (e.g. 17.5 hours/week = .5 FTE when 35 hours/weeks is the regular work week). The FTE is based on the agency’s standard work week. Because this payment is intended for employees in permanent positions (full or part-time) or persons under contract as home child care providers, the following staff should not be included:

• Persons working on a short term project. For example, an individual under contract with an agency to develop a parent contract.
• Students and staff whose salaries are covered by employment programs such as “Futures”, “Social Services Employment Program” (SSEP) etc.
• Persons paid on a fee-for service or contract basis. For example, someone who provides accounting services, janitorial services.

IV. FUNDING CONDITIONS
The Service Provider will use Wage Subsidy funds to increase the salary and benefits of staff employed in licensed child care services, funded child care resource services, and funded support for children with special needs.

The Service Provider will only use Wage Subsidy funds to increase salary and benefits of staff filling eligible positions unless non-salary related use is specifically approved by the Ministry. Where a collective agreement precludes increasing payments to staff, or other such exceptional circumstance exists, non-salary use of wage subsidy funds may be approved by the Ministry.

The Service Provider will ensure that each employee receives a reasonable portion of Wage Subsidy, and that such distributions are consistent with achievement of the service provider’s pay equity plan.

Distribution of Wage Subsidy to employees will not exceed $9,030 per FTE position in a non-profit organization and will not exceed $3,230 per FTE position in commercially operated child care program (unless resulting from transfer/sale of a child care centre previously operated by a non-profit organization).

The Service Provider will ensure that all payments to employees, including Wage Subsidy, are reflected in the job rates used by the Service Provider in pay equity calculations.

The Service Provider is entitled to use a portion of Wage Subsidy funding to cover mandatory employer contributions resulting from increased salary and benefit costs which are related to implementation of Wage Subsidy funded salary and benefit increases.

Service Providers that down-size a child care program may not redistribute Wage Subsidy funding to remaining positions. Wage Subsidy funds distributed to previously employed positions are to be declared surplus on the Child Care Wage Subsidy Utilization Statement provided to the Ministry at the end of funding year.

The Service Provider will immediately report to the Ministry any significant child care program down sizing which is expected to be ongoing, and acknowledges that such program and/or staffing changes will result in recalculation of the amount of Wage Subsidy the Service Provider is eligible to receive.

Previously approved Direct Operating Grant funding for non-salary use may continue to be used for such purposes, subject to Ministry approval each year, but must be at the 1993/94 level or lower.

Service Providers that operate a licensed home child care program shall distribute a portion of Wage Subsidy to enhance payments to home child care providers, as well as to employees of the home child care agency such as home visitors. Unless the program has down sized, the amount distributed to home child care shall be consistent with the total combined amounts of the former Direct Operating Grant and Provider Enhancement Grant previously distributed to home child care providers.

The Service Provider shall determine and administer distribution of Wage Subsidy funds in accordance with the funding conditions herein and Ministry policies, procedures, and guidelines governing Wage Subsidy and Pay Equity in effect at the time of such distribution.

The Service Provider is required to communicate to staff and home child care providers how subsidy funding is distributed, as well as any changes that may occur in distribution.

Wage subsidy funds not utilized in accordance with the conditions outlined above and current Ministry policies, procedures, and guidelines governing Wage Subsidy and Pay Equity shall be returned to the Ministry.

Failure to comply with any of the funding conditions herein may result in a claim for recovery of Wage Subsidy funding provided by the Ministry and ineligibility to receive future funding under the Wage Subsidy program.

The Service Provider will submit a Child Care Wage Subsidy Utilization Statement to the Ministry within thirty days of the end of the funding year.

V. GUIDELINES FOR WAGE SUBSIDY DISTRIBUTION

1. The purpose of Wage Subsidy funding is to enhance the salaries and benefits of eligible staff.
2. The Ministry strongly encourages that Service Providers include Wage Subsidy funding in their ongoing salary and wage payments to staff rather than distributing the funding as periodic payments during the year.
3. Salary related wage subsidy refers to the combined amount of the former Direct Operating Grant, Wage Enhancement Grant, and provider Enhancement Grant. Only expansion that is part of the MCSS area child care management plan will receive additional Wage Subsidy funding. Where expansion is not part of the management plan, the service provider is responsible for funding for 100% of the additional salaries, benefits and home child care provider payments.
4.The Direct Operating Grant portion of the Wage Subsidy may be approved in year [SIC] by the area office for non salary use, i.e. affordability or staff training. Existing approvals may not exceed the 1993/94 level. This amount will be identified separately in the approval.

Service Providers may use a portion of the Wage Subsidy grant to fund the increase in the employers’ share of benefits to the enhanced salaries.

The most effective fee collection strategies are preventative. It is important to act before unpaid fees become overwhelming for parents and families are unable to catch up. Following are a few preventative measures that may help to reduce your receivables:

Document your policies and rules
Does everybody involved in the collection process know the centre’s policies and rules regarding debt monitoring and collection? Parents, the supervisor and the board of directors all play key roles in fee collection and it is important that these roles are documented and well understood. The basic collection policies for parents should be specified in the parent handbook. These policies include:

• the frequency of payments (weekly, monthly)
• interest and other penalties, if any, to be levied on late payments
• the method of payment (postdated cheques, cash, certified cheques in the event of NSF’s)
• conditions resulting in withdrawal from care

Parents should be made aware of the policies during the initial enrolment interview. Policies must be clearly outlined and documented to ensure neither the board nor the supervisor are put in the position of having to make up rules as they go along. Consequences resulting from non-payment should be clearly communicated to be fair to parents and staff/board members. We are not suggesting that policies and rules always be rigidly enforced. Rather, we believe that clear written policies help make difficult situations more manageable and help reduce nasty surprises. Policies should also be set for the roles of the supervisor and the board. Policies should cover:

• responsibility for billing parents
• communication of fee increases
• maintenance of the receivables ledger
• information to be reported to the board
• action to be taken when fees outstanding are 30, 60, or 90+ days overdue
• special steps to be taken if the receivables are due from board members or staff

Again, we are not suggesting slavish adherence to these written policies. Deviations from the policies should be discussed at the board level on a situation-by-situation basis and documented in the board minutes.

We have a few suggestions that you might consider including while formulating your collection policies.
Regular review of outstanding amounts
First and foremost the supervisor should review accounts receivable on a monthly basis. Many collection problems stem from not acting soon enough to collect overdue debts. A summary of amounts owing should be presented at each monthly board meeting. Names should not be disclosed for reasons of confidentiality. The summary should indicate amounts overdue by month (i.e. one, two, three and over); amounts greater than 30 days past due are a potential collection problem. The supervisor should report on action taken to collect these amounts and the board should respond and assist accordingly.

Responsibility for collection of amounts past due
Generally the supervisor is responsible for collecting and depositing fees. Giving the supervisor responsibility for collection of past due amounts may interfere with care given to the children if staff/parent relations become strained. Unpaid fees are not the child’s problem. We recommend that collection of seriously past due fees be undertaken by a board member and not the supervisor. This will allow staff to focus on providing care to the child.

Speak to parents directly
Person to person contact is essential to collection of overdue amounts. It may be easy to write a letter but it is often ineffective for collecting fees. When talking to parents consider stressing that while the care of their child comes first the financial stability of the centre is also critical. Collection of fees is a key element in that stability. Your objective should be to develop a payment plan that will meet both the needs of the centre and the financial capabilities of the family.

Any repayment plan should start by ensuring that payments for current child care remain up-to-date. For example, if payment for March and April has not yet been received by May then first make sure that the fees for May are paid. This will maintain needed monthly cash flow at the centre even if past due amounts remain outstanding. For some families a weekly payment schedule for current fees may be more manageable than larger monthly payments.

Once parents return to making regular monthly payments you can negotiate a payment plan for the arrears. We recommend that you agree on a regular payment stream over a manageable number of months. If the plan puts the parents in such financial stress that they are unable to pay current fees then the past due problem will only worsen. For example, if a parent owes $600 consider asking for an additional $50 per week until the arrears are paid. A 12 week repayment term may seem long. However, it is better to collect current fees each month and the arrears over a long period of time than to lose a full-fee paying parent altogether.

Amounts due from board members
Collection of past due amounts from board members is an especially difficult issue. The supervisor reports to the board and it is generally inappropriate to ask staff to collect from their boss. Also, board members often become friends during their term in office and collecting debts from friends can get uncomfortable. You might consider having a policy of disclosing by name all amounts owing by board members at monthly board meetings and having the executive committee be responsible for the collection of those amounts. You might also consider asking board members in arrears over a certain period (e.g. 60 days) to resign. You must be seen to be taking action by the members of the childcare centre to avoid accusations of favoritism.

Collection from families no longer receiving care
Once families have withdrawn children from care it is difficult to collect unpaid fees. Gentle weekly phone calls and letters sometimes work. Turning the problem over to a collection agency can result in collection of 50 cents on the dollar. However, the techniques used by these agencies are usually not very subtle. Creating ill will in your community could damage the reputation of your centre and make it more difficult to attract new fee paying parents.

Centres sometimes consider taking parents to small claims court for collection of amounts under $5000. This process takes time and it helps if you have someone with experience with small claims court to consult with. We are aware of some centres that have received last minute out-of-court settlements. However, many cases wind up in court. If you do go this route and obtain a favorable judgment then we recommend asking for payment to be made through the court. A favorable judgment does not always ensure you will actually receive payment.

Summary
Collecting debts can be both unpleasant and time consuming. Prevention is the best cure. Develop and document parent and board/staff policies, monitor parent receivables regularly and try to resolve problems in a compassionate manner before they become significant.

In the past many centres have covered summer losses with surpluses earned during the rest of the year. Given declining enrolments and the possible reduction of subsidized spaces, centres may not have surpluses to rely on for subsidizing summer programs. As a result reducing summer losses and maintaining a viable program all year long are critical.

April is the time to finalize summer plans. If your centre’s summer program isn’t planned by the middle of May parents may make alternative care arrangements. Following are some suggestions to help cover summer costs.

Do you expect a loss this summer?

First you need to determine whether your summer program is expected to cover costs or run at a loss. Prepare a simple budget for July and August.

• Estimate revenue on a room-by-room basis.
• Ensure that you treat salary grants consistently. Include salary grants in revenue and grants paid out in staff costs or exclude both grant revenue and expenses to be consistent.
• Keep other expense categories to a minimum. Exclude overhead costs (e.g. insurance) which you must be pay regardless of whether or not you operate in the summer.
• Here is an example:

You now have an idea of whether your summer program will incur a loss or not. Losses arise from one of two sources: too little revenue or too many expenses. Let’s look at how you might both increase revenue and decrease costs.

Controlling revenue losses
A drop in enrolment is the single biggest reason for losses in the summer. To keep enrolment numbers up and revenue high:

• determine how many children already at the centre will continue on in the summer. Survey the parents to get an idea of how committed they are to enrolling in the summer.
• ask parents for a modest deposit to help firm up their commitment.
• promote your fabulous summer program within your existing parent body. Current parents are the best and most convenient source of “customers”. Ask for their ideas and suggestions.
• having trouble filling your program? Find out why. Are you offering the type of summer program that your families want? Is your program too expensive? You must be prepared to offer a program that fits the needs of your community if you are to fill your centre for the summer.
• know your competition. If a relatively inexpensive Parks & Recreation program is operating next door then you may have to design your program differently than if you are the only “camp” in the area.
• advertise what is unique about your centre (french immersion, close to the park/beach, access to computers). Use these selling points to attract parents.
• obtain and advertise that you have staff with the skills to offer a full day summer program that both challenges and excites the children. Program creativity is often the essential ingredient needed to fill your centre in the summer.

Setting summer fees
If you expect your centre to be full then you are well on the way to maximizing your centre”s revenue. However, you may still have to increase fees to pay for extended school-age programming and possibly for increased July and August casual staff. To calculate how much you may need to increase fees you must first estimate expected extra costs. Lets assume you intend to offer a program for 6 to 12 year olds with an average enrolment of 13 throughout the summer (i.e. anticipating 2 vacancies). Extra costs can be calculated as follows:

If you are currently charging $12/day you will now need to charge $22/day for 6 to 12 year old children during the summer. Will school-age parents be willing to pay this? Survey the parents now to find out.

Cost cutting measures
What if you do not expect have a full program? This can be very expensive. For example, being short five preschool children for the two summer months could cost your centre in the order of $6,000. You need to determine how to reduce costs to cope with this. Here are some strategies you should consider:

Focus on reducing significant costs
As mentioned in our last issue (Volume 1 Issue 3, p. 9), any attempt to significantly reduce costs must focus on salaries and benefits as these expenses typically make-up 80% of total costs. Cutting less costly program items such as trips, food and supplies may not result in sufficient decreases and these components of a program are generally critical to quality of care and to attracting parents. If you remove trips from the budget to save $400 for a month you could end up with a program that neither parents nor children like very much.

Minimizing staff costs
In the summer centres often need higher than normal levels of casual staff to fill in when regular staff take vacations. Some techniques to minimize casual staff costs are:

• Match staff vacations with child vacations. Survey parents and determine when they expect to be on vacation. Allow staff vacations at times when parts of the program can be closed down as a result of child vacations. Advantages of prescribing staff vacations are reduced casual staff costs and reduced orientation time needed to train new staff. However, prescribed vacation dates may not be convenient for staff. Often there are not enough children on vacation at any point in time to permit a significant reduction in staff time. You will need to go through a fairly detailed staffing exercise to determine if this policy will work for you.
• Do not allow staff to take summer vacations. Insist that staff take vacations either before or after the summer period. While this policy may reduce casual staff costs it could have a negative effect on staff morale which in turn can affect the quality of care given.

If your centre experiences an enrolment drop in the summer then you may need to reduce core staff costs to avoid a loss. Ways to do this include:
Ask if any staff want to take an unpaid leave of absence for the summer. Staff are often keen to do this if given sufficient notice.

• Ask staff to work a reduced work week. Staff might enjoy an extra day off each week or a shortened work day. A shortened work week is often better than no job at all. Note that this option can have a negative impact on employment insurance (‘EI”) benefits if a staff member is subsequently laid-off on either a temporary or permanent basis as insurable earnings will be reduced. [Note that "unemployment insurance" is now referred to as "employment insurance".]
• Consider laying off a staff member for the summer. Determine whether the staff member will be eligible for EI benefits if they are unable to find replacement work for July and August.

There are many ways to reduce staff costs during the summer period. You need to make sure that you adequately balance staff and childcare needs with financial necessity in the process.

Closing the centre for a week or two
Some centres choose to close for one or two weeks in the summer. You need to look very closely at the financial consequences before you choose this option. Generally costs saved are not significant. Staff are usually required to take their vacation during the (two week) closure. This may or may not be convenient for staff and their families and may result in morale problems at the centre.

Two possible advantages of a summer closure are:

• all staff are off simultaneously. Staff can all return to work refreshed and with renewed enthusiasm.
• the centre can be thoroughly cleaned during the closure.

Lets look at an example of a two week closure where parents are not charged. In this example, as is often the case, revenue losses exceed cost reductions. The closure costs the centre money.

In this situation staff receive their regular pay while they are on vacation. As a result there are no reductions in normal salary costs. The cost reductions come from being able to reduce casual staff throughout the summer as all regular staff are expected to work during the same seven weeks (they all have to take the same two weeks off as well). This casual staff savings generally does not offset the revenue reduction. You can also see that reduced program costs such as food and trips result in only relatively minor cost savings. Also note that Toronto Children’s Services will generally not pay for days the centre is closed if parents are not charged. Children transferred out to other centres for the period of closure may not transfer back.

Centres that close for a period without charging parents are usually worse off financially than if they stayed open throughout the period.

The second variation on this theme is closure for one or two weeks while continuing to charge parents for childcare. In our above example the centre would reduce costs by $3,700 while not reducing revenue in the short-term at all. This $3,700 saving would be at the expense of possibly annoying parents. Loss of one full-fee paying parent as a result of this policy would cost the centre dearly for each month the vacancy remains. Given that attracting full fee paying parents and maintaining enrolment is currently so difficult this course of action is not recommended.

September reservation fees
You could consider the possibility of charging parents who withdraw their children from the centre in the summer a fee to reserve spaces in the fall. We have found that this works well only if your centre has a substantial waiting list for the fall. If you do not have a waiting list then parents will often take a gamble that spaces will be available at the end of the summer and merely re-register in September. Also, the advantages of charging a holding deposit are probably outweighed by the negative impact of parents having to pay fees without receiving care.

Closure for the whole summer
There are situations which would make closure of the centre for the summer months the most advisable situation. These include:

• Your community does not need summer care.
• You are unable to match summer costs with revenues and your centre’s financial cushion is insufficient to tide it over the summer months.
• You are unable to find and hire sufficiently qualified staff to put on a high quality summer program.

In these situations your centre would offer a ten month program and close down for July and August. Offering a ten month program poses difficulties mainly for those centres with a significant number of spaces funded by Toronto Children’s Services. Children transferred out to alternate care arrangements in the summer months may choose not to return in September. Consequently, the option of closure for the summer months is generally taken only by centres with a high proportion of full-fee paying parents. If your centre is going to close for the summer first consider the following:

• Staff should receive temporary lay-off notices in writing. There is no requirement for the centre to make severance payments or give pay-in-lieu of notice for temporary closures not exceeding thirteen weeks. Staff should be informed well in advance of the decision to close so they can make summer plans themselves.
• A Record Of Employment should be prepared for each staff person on the date of the temporary lay-off so that staff can apply for EI benefits for the summer period. Staff are entitled to benefits based on their insurable earnings for the prior twenty weeks and, of course, subject to the EI waiting period in effect at the time the temporary lay-off takes effect.
• Ensure all parents are aware of your plans for closure well in advance of the summer. Finalize fall registration plans in May or earlier and consider firming up registration plans by requesting a small fee deposit from returning parents.
• Be sure that you inform MCSS of your plans to operate a ten month program. Your salary grant payments (DOG and WEG) will be reduced accordingly as both are affected by months of operation over the year.
• Inform Toronto Children’s Services of your decision to close for two months.

The decision to close the centre for the summer is a serious one and should only be made by your Board after discussions with all parties involved including parents, staff, MCSS and Toronto Children’s Services.