Families in Lanark County will have access to 106 more subsidized child-care spaces by the end of the year. The province has approved the increase, raising the total number of spaces under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system from 1,624 to 1,730.
Children’s Services Manager Katie Mitchell told council that the county pushed for more spaces after seeing ongoing pressure to expand. A strong response from local licensed child-care providers looking to join or grow within the system means the county is confident it can meet the new target.
The new spaces will be added to both centre-based and home child-care programs. The county has updated its Directed Growth Plan to match the capacity and readiness of local providers.
A key part of the expansion is the new Mississippi Mills Childcare Services facility at 111 Menzie Street in Almonte. The $10.5 million project will add 78 licensed child-care spaces, more than doubling the current capacity to 151 spots. It’s being funded with $2,130,705 from the Canada-Ontario Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Funding Agreement and $704,400 from a start-up grant. The centre is expected to open in fall 2026.
The larger push for child care comes as Ontario works toward creating 86,000 new licensed spaces by the end of December 2026. As of June 2025, about 41,000 net new spaces had been added across the province. Ontario recently signed a one-year extension to its federal child-care agreement, securing funding through fiscal year 2027.
