Looking for childcare in Ajax means sorting through licensed centres, home daycares, Montessori programs, nursery schools and before-and-after school care — often while holding a baby. The categories overlap, the pricing is rarely published, and everyone tells you to get on a waitlist yesterday.
This guide sets out what actually exists in Ajax, what it costs, how the subsidy works, and the questions that get you a straight answer. Written by the team at Cedarbrook Montessori, a licensed childcare centre in Ajax serving children from 18 months to six years.
Childcare in Ajax: the options available
Five broad categories, and the labels matter less than what each one actually provides.
- Licensed childcare centres. Inspected under Ontario’s Child Care and Early Years Act, with set ratios, staff qualifications, safety procedures and record-keeping. Most offer full days and are open year round.
- Licensed home childcare. Care in a provider’s home, overseen by a licensed agency that monitors and supports it. Smaller groups, often more flexible, and the agency handles the compliance.
- Unlicensed home childcare. Legal in Ontario within limits on the number of children. No inspection regime, so due diligence is entirely yours.
- Nursery and preschool programs. Usually part-day and term-based, aimed at socialisation and school readiness rather than covering a working day.
- Montessori and other method-based programs. A specific educational approach delivered inside licensed care. Prepared classrooms, sequenced materials and mixed-age groups.
One thing worth knowing early: “licensed” and “Montessori” are separate questions. A centre can be one, both or neither. Ask about each.
How to check a centre is licensed
Every licensed centre in Ontario has a licence number and is required to display its licence on site. The province maintains a public register, and inspection history — including any non-compliance findings — is published there.
Ontario’s licensed child care directory lets you look up any centre’s licence and inspection history before you visit.
Look it up before you visit rather than after. A past non-compliance is not automatically a problem; what matters is what it was and whether it was resolved. A centre that talks openly about it is usually the one worth trusting.
What childcare costs, and how CWELCC changes it
This is the part most websites avoid, which is exactly why it is worth asking about directly.
The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement — CWELCC, often described as “$10-a-day daycare” — reduces fees for children under six at participating centres. Two things parents are frequently surprised by:
- Participation is not universal. Enrolment is capped by the funding available to each municipality, so some centres are in the program and some are not. A centre operating two sites may be enrolled at one and not the other.
- It reduces the base fee, not every charge. Deposits, field trips, special programs and optional extras generally sit outside it. Ask what the reduced base fee is and what still gets billed on top.
Ask every centre the same three questions: are you enrolled in CWELCC, what is the fee after the reduction, and what is charged separately. Get it in writing. A centre that cannot answer quickly usually has not thought it through.
Waitlists: how they actually work in Durham Region
“We have a waitlist” is not a useful answer, because a waitlist is not one queue. Places open by age band — a spot appears in the toddler room when a child moves up to preschool, not when the centre as a whole has capacity.
So the question is not “are you full”. It is: what is currently open in my child’s age band, and when does the next place come up? The answers differ wildly between rooms at the same centre.
Two things that help. Ask whether the list is date-ordered or discretionary, and whether siblings get priority. And ask about mid-year starts — because places open when individual children move up, January and April are more available than most families assume.
Hours: the question working parents should ask first
A centre that closes at 5:00pm does not work if you commute west into Toronto. Ask for the actual opening and closing times, not the “program hours”, and check three things:
- Whether before and after care costs extra, and how much
- Whether the centre closes for March break, summer or PD days
- What the late-pickup policy is, and what it costs
At Cedarbrook our core day runs 8:30am to 4:30pm, with extended care from 7:00am and until 6:30pm. We are open year round apart from statutory holidays, so there is no summer gap to arrange separately.
If you are considering a Montessori program
Montessori is one approach among several, and it suits some children better than others. The practical difference is the work cycle: children choose an activity from the shelf, stay with it as long as it holds them, and put it away before moving on. There is no bell moving the whole group along together every twenty minutes.
For a child who needs to move, that tends to work well — Montessori children are not required to sit still. For a child who prefers clear group structure, a play-based program may be the better fit. Neither is superior; they suit different temperaments.
If you want the detail, our guide on choosing a Montessori preschool covers what to look for, and our curriculum page explains the five learning areas.
Visiting: what to look at
Ask for a mid-morning visit rather than drop-off or pickup. Mid-morning is when a room is doing what it normally does.
Watch the children, not the adults. Are they occupied or drifting? Do they tidy up without being told? Then watch how staff speak to a child who is struggling — that is the thing you cannot get from a website, and it is what matters most on a difficult morning in November.
Practical checks: where children eat and whether food is made on site, where they go outside and what happens in February, where nappies are changed and how that is handled, and whether the space smells clean without smelling of bleach.
Common questions from Ajax parents
How early should I apply for childcare in Ajax?
Earlier than feels reasonable. Many Ajax families join lists during pregnancy for infant care. For toddler and preschool places, six to twelve months ahead is common, though mid-year openings do appear when children move up an age band.
What is the difference between daycare and preschool?
Daycare usually means full-day licensed care covering a working day. Preschool usually means a part-day, term-based program focused on school readiness. Plenty of centres provide both — full-day care delivered through an educational program. Ask which you are being offered.
Do Ajax childcare centres provide meals?
Some do, some ask you to pack lunch. If meals are included, ask whether they are cooked on site or brought in, whether there is a posted menu, and how allergies are managed. At Cedarbrook lunch and snacks are prepared on site — you can see the current rotation on our menu page.
Can I use a childcare subsidy in Durham Region?
Durham Region administers fee subsidy separately from CWELCC, based on household income, and it applies at participating licensed centres. The two can interact, so ask the Region and the centre rather than assuming. Eligibility is assessed by the Region, not by the centre.
Which areas around Ajax do centres usually serve?
Families often travel from Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa, particularly where the hours fit a commute better than a closer option. Our Ajax campus draws from across Durham Region — the 7:00am opening usually suits a westbound drive better than a later start.
Working through your shortlist? Come and see a classroom mid-morning, when the room is doing what it normally does. Book a visit or tell us which age band you are asking about and we will tell you honestly what is open.
