Are Home Daycares Safe? What Ontario, BC and Alberta Check

Are home daycares safe? Some are well run and regularly checked, but nobody can honestly tell you that home daycares as a group are safer or riskier than daycare centres. We looked for government or Statistics Canada figures comparing the two and found none. What you can find out is whether anyone is checking a particular home: who visits it, how often, and how many children it is allowed to take. In Canada that depends on your province and on whether the home is inside the province's oversight system.

This article covers Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, with each province's rules as published in September 2026. If you live elsewhere, including the United States, the questions are the same but the numbers are not.

Who checks a home daycare in Ontario, BC and Alberta?

In all three provinces a home daycare can operate legally inside the province's oversight system, or outside it within a small size limit. Only the first kind is visited on a schedule.

Sources: Ontario's Types of child care page (updated October 2025) and Home Child Care Agency Licensing Manual (January 2025); British Columbia's licensed and unlicensed child care page (updated June 2026), Child Care Licensing Regulation and inspection reports page (April 2026); Alberta's Family Day Home Standards Manual (September 2025) and its guide for parents.

Two details are easy to miss. In Ontario the licence belongs to the agency: the province does not license individual home providers, who work under contract to an agency. And in all three provinces "unlicensed" does not mean illegal. It means nobody from the province or an agency is visiting on a schedule.

Is there research showing home daycares are as safe as centres?

Not that we could find for Canada, so be wary of any article that says otherwise. We looked for a published comparison of injuries in home daycares and daycare centres and did not find one from a government or from Statistics Canada.

There are two reasons, both easiest to see in Ontario. The province lists its data on serious incidents in licensed child care in its open data catalogue but has not released it. And unlicensed homes do not report incidents to the province, so there is nothing to count.

What is known is roughly how common each kind is. A Statistics Canada survey estimated that in April 2024 about 17,200 licensed or agency-approved and 11,700 unlicensed home-based child cares were looking after children aged 0 to 5. That is about four in ten unlicensed. Statistics Canada cautions that the survey may miss homes of both kinds.

The clearest official account of what can go wrong is from Ontario. In October 2014 the province's Ombudsman reported on how the province handled complaints about unlicensed daycares, after four young children died in unlicensed child care settings in the Greater Toronto Area within seven months. Three of those settings appeared to have more children than the law allowed. The report made 113 recommendations. Ontario passed a new child care law that December, and its caps of 5 and 6 children still stand. In 2019 the province loosened two details: it raised the limit on children under 2 from two to three, and it now counts the provider's own children only until they turn 4 instead of 6.

How do you check a specific home daycare?

Ontario. Ask the provider which agency oversees the home, and look for the decal that every agency-overseen provider must display. Then look up the agency in the province's licensed child care search, which shows recent inspection reports. The search lists agencies and centres, not individual homes. If the provider is not with an agency, the home is unlicensed, and the provider must tell you so in writing.

British Columbia. Look for the home on the province's child care map of licensed facilities, then read its inspection reports on your regional health authority's website. The province notes that the map may not include every licensed facility, so ask to see the licence if the home is missing.

Alberta. Ask which agency the home belongs to and look the agency up with the province's childcare lookup tools. Its search shows 18 months of non-compliance history. Alberta also publishes a list of stop orders issued to unlicensed providers in the past 24 months.

What should you ask when you visit?

These questions come straight from what the provincial rules require, so a provider inside the system will have ready answers.

• How many children are here on a full day, counting your own? Compare the answer with your province's limit in the table.
• Who visits to inspect, and when was the last visit? An agency-overseen or licensed provider can tell you. An unlicensed provider has no scheduled visits to describe.
• May I see your first aid certificate? Ontario requires agency-overseen providers to hold standard first aid with infant and child CPR. British Columbia requires a valid first aid certificate for licensed family child care. Alberta requires first aid certification within three months of starting.
• Who else is in the home during the day, and have they had a police check? Ontario requires vulnerable sector checks for the provider and for adults who live in or are regularly at an agency-overseen home. British Columbia requires a criminal record check for anyone over 12 who is ordinarily present. Alberta requires agency educators and other adult residents to renew theirs, including the vulnerable sector search, every three years.
• What happens when you are sick or away? A centre has other staff. A home daycare usually has one person.

When is a home daycare the wrong choice?

A home daycare is the wrong choice if the provider cannot or will not show you who oversees the home and you are not prepared to do all the checking yourself. British Columbia's parent guide (December 2019) says it plainly: parents are solely responsible for assessing and monitoring quality in any unlicensed arrangement.

It is also a poor fit if you cannot manage a closure at short notice. With one provider, an illness can close the daycare unless there is a backup. Ask what the backup is.

For how home daycares and centres compare on cost, group size and routine, see home daycares vs. daycare centres.

What if something worries you?

Each province takes complaints about home daycares, licensed or not. For unlicensed homes they act mainly when a home has too many children.

• Ontario: the Ministry of Education's child care complaint page has an online form. It covers providers who may be operating illegally, for example with too many children.
• British Columbia: contact the licensing office at your regional health authority.
• Alberta: call Childcare Connect at 1-844-644-5165. It takes reports about licensed and unlicensed programs.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.

Finding a home daycare on KinderPage

KinderPage lists home daycares and daycare centres across Canada. A listing shows the information we hold, which comes from the daycare itself or from public directories. A "Licensed" label on a listing is not confirmation, and we do not inspect daycares. Confirm the licence or the agency with your province's own tool before you enrol. You can start with daycares near you.