Hastings County is looking at continuing a program that helps families afford child care.
During Wednesday’s meeting of Hastings County Community and Human Services Committee, councillors discussed a proposal to extend the School-Age Affordability program for another year.
The program was originally a pilot program that launched in September 2025 to help families with children using school-age child care, but not eligible for assistance under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system.
Under the pilot, parent fees were reduced to a maximum of $12 per day for children attending only before-school or only after-school care, and $22 per day for children attending both before and after school care or full-day care on non-instructional days such as professional activity days.
Extending the program was predicted to cost $500,000. That cost was included in the 2026 budget.
The committee voted to approve the extension without debate, and forwarded it to the next meeting of council for final approval.
