Home childcare rules check
Add the children you care for and see every day of the week against Ontario's limits, minute by minute. See the year ahead as they grow, and print each family's notice.
Help and background Back to the tool
How it works
- 1 Say whether you care for children on your own or with a licensed agency, and pick the week to check.
- 2 Add each child with their birthday, their days and their drop-off and pickup times. Add your own children too.
- 3 See every day as a line of how many children count, minute by minute, against the limit of five, three under 2. Then see the year ahead as children turn 2, 4 and 13, start and leave.
- 4 Ask if one more child fits, and when. Print each family's written notice, with a copy for you to keep.
Free, with no account. Everything is worked out on this page: children's names, birthdays and families are never sent to us or put in a link. Remember keeps them on this device, and only while it's on.
Good to know
- Who counts?
- Every child under 13 in your care at the same moment. On your own, that's up to five at a time, and no more than three under 2. With a licensed home child care agency it's up to six, still three under 2, unless the agency sets a lower number. The tool counts the moments between drop-offs and pickups, so a back-to-back handover doesn't count twice.
- Do my own children count?
- Only while they're under 4. From September 1 of the year your child turns 4, they stop counting. Hours when only your own children are home aren't checked.
- What goes on the written notice?
- Unlicensed care has to tell each parent in writing, before care starts, that the program is not licensed by the Government of Ontario, and keep a record of it. The notice prints that sentence word for word, with your name, the child, the parent and a place to sign: one copy for the family and one for you.
- What if I only care for relatives?
- Mark a child as a relative and the tool says so when every child that day is yours or family. The Act may not apply then, but check how it defines a relative before you rely on it.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. It's guidance based on Ontario's Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 and its regulation as read on October 11, 2026. Rules change, so check ontario.ca before you take on a child or turn one away.
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