Parents choose a
centre before they
ever call you.
Your website decides.
Most childcare centres are running on a Facebook page, a basic Wix site, or nothing at all. Parents researching care for their children make judgements fast — and a professional, warm, well-structured website puts you ahead of most of the field immediately.
CCEYA licence number displayed as standard. Ontario’s Child Care and Early Years Act requires all licensed centres to display their licence number prominently — including on their website. Every site I build includes this, compliantly and clearly.
The $10/day programme
The number one question
parents ask. Answered clearly
on your website.
Since the Canada-Ontario Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement, the $10/day programme has been the dominant question for parents researching childcare. Most centre websites don’t explain it at all — or explain it so poorly that parents leave confused.
Every site I build includes a dedicated, plain-language section explaining your participation status, how the subsidy works, what fees parents can expect, and how to apply. It’s the most practical trust-builder available to a childcare centre right now.
What parents need to know — and can't find on most sites
Is this centre participating in the $10/day programme? What will my fees actually be? How do I apply for the subsidy? What's the waitlist situation? These are the four questions driving every parent's research. Your website should answer all four, clearly, without a phone call.
What most childcare sites get wrong
Parents research fast.
Most centres lose them quickly.
The bar for childcare websites is genuinely low — which means a professionally built, well-structured site puts you ahead of the majority of your local competition almost immediately.
A Facebook page is not a website
A huge number of Ontario childcare centres run primarily or entirely on Facebook. Parents searching on Google — especially "childcare near me" — won't find you. Facebook can't be indexed for local search. You need a real web presence to be discovered.
No CCEYA licence number visible
It's legally required and most parents don't know that — but they do know that a licensed, regulated centre is safer than an unlicensed one. Displaying your licence clearly, with its validity date, is compliance and trust in the same step.
A Google Form for the waitlist
It works — barely. But a Google Form with your centre's logo looks like something assembled in five minutes. An integrated, branded waitlist form on your own website collects the right information, sets expectations, and reflects the professionalism parents are looking for.
The $10/day question goes unanswered
Most childcare centre websites say nothing about the CWELCC subsidy programme, or mention it vaguely without any practical detail. Parents who can't get a clear answer about costs from your website will move on to a centre that gives them one.
Broken on mobile
Parents research on their phones — during nap time, on the commute, while waiting at pickup. If your site is hard to navigate on mobile, if the phone number isn't instantly tappable, or if the contact form is fiddly on a small screen, you're losing those enquiries.
Invisible in local search
"Daycare near me", "licensed childcare [city]", "Montessori preschool [neighbourhood]" — these are searches parents make every day. Most childcare sites don't rank for any of them. A properly structured site with local SEO built in changes that from day one.
Programme structure
Every age group.
Every programme page.
Parents searching for childcare are searching by age group — not by centre. Each programme gets its own dedicated page, structured for the parent's search, with the right content for that stage and the regulatory requirements for that group clearly displayed.
Infant Care
6 weeks – 18 months
The most emotionally charged decision a parent makes. The website needs to lead with warmth, environment, staff qualifications, and the daily routine — not features.
Ratio: 1:3 (regulated under CCEYA)
Toddler Programme
18 months – 2.5 years
Toddler parents want to understand the play-based approach, the outdoor time, and how the centre handles the messy bits of this age group. Practical and warm.
Ratio: 1:5 (regulated under CCEYA)
Preschool
2.5 – 4 years
Parents of preschoolers want kindergarten readiness alongside play. Strong search volume for pedagogy terms — Reggio, Montessori, play-based — that should be reflected in the page copy.
Ratio: 1:8 (regulated under CCEYA)
School Age / Before & After Care
4 – 12 years
Parents of school-age children search for before/after school care by school name and neighbourhood. Local SEO here is hyper-specific and highly winnable for most centres.
Ratio: 1:15 (regulated under CCEYA)
Integrated waitlist management
Replace your Google Form
with something that
actually works.
Most childcare centres have a waitlist. Most of them manage it with a Google Form, a spreadsheet, or both — with a separate email address for inquiries, and a third system for actual enrolment. It’s fragmented, hard to manage, and looks unprofessional to parents who encounter it.
Every site I build includes an integrated, branded waitlist form — collecting the right information, setting expectations clearly, and sending an automatic confirmation to the parent. Your team gets a clean, consistent record of every submission in one place.
Branded and professional
Looks like your centre, not a generic form. Parents see consistency and care before they've even visited.
Collects the right information upfront
Child's name, DOB, programme needed, start date, sibling status, subsidy eligibility question — all captured at submission.
Automatic confirmation email
Parents receive an immediate acknowledgement with your contact details and what to expect next. No manual follow-up required.
Easy for your team to manage
All submissions go to a single inbox or CRM — no spreadsheets, no cross-checking, no lost enquiries.
What's included
Everything a modern
childcare centre actually needs.
Compliance, trust, and parent communication — every element is chosen because it either answers a parent's question, satisfies a regulatory requirement, or helps parents find you when they're searching.
The website build
- Custom WordPress theme — warm, professional, true to your centre's character
- CCEYA licence number and status clearly displayed — compliance from day one
- Dedicated programme pages per age group — infant, toddler, preschool, school age
- $10/day subsidy explainer — plain language, fee transparency, how to apply
- Integrated waitlist form with automatic parent confirmation email
- Staff and ECE designation profiles — qualifications visible and reassuring
- Space photography gallery — environment-focused, no photos of children without consent
- Daily schedule and pedagogical philosophy page
- Inspection record display or link — proactive transparency
- FAQ section: fees, waitlist, sick policies, meals, pick-up procedures
- Parent testimonials section
- News and updates section — activities, seasonal programming, announcements
- Local SEO — structured for "daycare near me" and programme-specific searches
- Mobile-first — built for parents on phones doing research on the go
- AODA compliant — WCAG 2.0 Level AA
Ongoing care (monthly)
- Managed WordPress hosting on enterprise infrastructure
- Daily off-site backups with one-click restore
- Security monitoring, firewall, and malware scanning
- Plugin and core updates — researched and tested before applied
- Performance monitoring and Core Web Vitals upkeep
- Uptime monitoring — immediate response if anything goes down
- Content update support — fee changes, staff updates, news posts
- Emergency response — fast turnaround if anything breaks
Parent portal or news section available as an add-on — a simple, ACF-managed area your team can update directly with activities, menus, and weekly updates. No WordPress training needed.
How it works
A straightforward process.
Designed around your schedule.
Tell me about your centre
Share what you offer, what age groups you serve, and what your current web presence looks like. I'll ask about your waitlist, your subsidy participation, and your team so I can build something that reflects you accurately.
I review and propose
I come back with a clear scope, timeline, and fixed price. I'll flag any funding that might offset the cost — CDAP and municipal digital grants are worth checking before you commit.
We build it together
I work around the reality of running a childcare centre — you're not available for daily calls. Staging access throughout, clear milestones, and a process that doesn't require more of your time than it needs.
Launch — and stay running
Hosting, maintenance, and support are ongoing. Fee updates, staff changes, seasonal programming — I handle the website so you can handle the children.
Ready for a website that reflects the quality of your care?
A quick conversation is all it takes. I'll review what you have and come back with a clear picture of what's possible — and whether there's a grant that could help fund it.
Start a conversationRunning a licensed home daycare?
Home daycares are licensed under the same CCEYA framework and have identical digital needs — just at a smaller scale. I offer a focused package specifically for home daycare operators who need a professional presence without a full centre build. Let's talk about what that looks like.
Home daycare enquiries