District EarlyON programs receive $105,254 funding boost

Funding has increased to over a million dollars

District of Muskoka Council approved a $105,254 budget increase for EarlyON Child and Family Centre programs at its August 20, 2026, meeting.

Staff reported that the additional funding comes from the Ontario Ministry of Education and is intended to help address rising operating costs and stabilize EarlyON service levels for children and families.

They indicated that the District operates 16 EarlyON programs across Muskoka's six area municipalities, providing free programming for parents and caregivers with children from birth to six years old.

According to the report, EarlyON funding has remained largely stagnant since 2017 despite increasing costs and increasingly complex needs among families. The province is providing an additional $17.95 million to service system managers across Ontario in 2026 in response to those financial pressures.

Muskoka's $105,254 allocation will be directed toward several operational expenses. The District will allocate $15,000 for employee-related expenses, specifically staff mileage; $37,000 for materials and supplies, including replacement play-based equipment and food programming; and $53,254 for external rent and various program services.

The additional provincial funding increases the District's 2026 EarlyON expenditure budget from approximately $1.1 million to $1.21 million. Ministry of Education funding increases from approximately $949,000 to $1.05 million.

The report adds that there will be no impact on the District's tax levy as a result of the budget amendment because the full increase in expenditures is covered by the additional provincial funding.

EarlyON Child and Family Centres provide programming aimed at strengthening adult-child relationships, supporting parent education and healthy child development, while also connecting families with early intervention supports and other community services.

In 2025, the District provided an average of 80 hours of EarlyON programming each week. Programs recorded 12,644 child visits and 10,199 parent and caregiver visits during the year.

The province has characterized the additional money as cost-stabilization funding, and it is not currently expected to continue in 2027.

The Ministry of Education is also expected to review the EarlyON Child and Family Centre program in the coming months to examine operations and opportunities to strengthen support for children and families across Ontario.

Councillor, Heidi Lorenz, expressed the importance of the program, which she used with her kids when she moved to the area 30 years ago.

“This is a great program for people to make connections,” said Lorenz, adding that she’s still friends with someone she met there.

She continued, “People use the services at certain points of life and when you need them they play an important part.”