Little Angels Development Inc. | Fergus and Elora

CHILD CARE WAITLIST POLICY

Create: September 2016  Updated: August 8, 2026 Reviewed Annually

1. Purpose

Little Angels Development Inc. maintains a waitlist process that is fair, transparent, consistently applied and protective of

personal information. The process recognizes that licensed child care spaces are program-specific and that a child’s

chronological position is only one part of placement. A space must also match the child’s age, requested start date, attendance

times of care, room capacity and ability to progress through the centre’s age groupings.

 2. Legislative and Administrative Requirements

This policy is intended to meet the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 and the waiting-list requirements in Ontario Regulation

137/15. Little Angels will:

• not charge or collect a fee or deposit to place a child on the waitlist;
• maintain written procedures governing how the waitlist is administered;
• provide parents, on request and in a manner that protects privacy, with information that allows them to monitor their child’s
• waitlist status or position; and
• make the waitlist policy available in the Parent Handbook and to families who request it.

 3. Application and Required Information

Families apply through the Wellington–Guelph centralized child care application system, currently OneHSN. The application

date recorded in that system establishes the child’s original chronological application date. Each application must include

accurate and current information, including:

• child’s full name and date of birth;
• parent/guardian contact information;
• preferred Little Angels location and program;
• requested start date or month;
• days and hours of care required;
• sibling or staff-family priority information, where applicable;
• any information needed to determine program eligibility or plan an appropriate admission process; and
• any change to the family’s requested start date, contact information or care requirements.

A child’s date of birth is a significant placement factor. It determines the program for which the child is eligible when a space begins and helps Little Angels assess whether the child can move through later rooms without creating a foreseeable placement conflict.

 OneHSN Display Limitations and Direct Notification

OneHSN stores some details only within the individual application and does not automatically display them as a priority or notification on Little Angels’ working waitlist. The Program Manager must open the application and manually assign the applicable priority. The working waitlist does not automatically identify when a family:

• identifies a sibling who is currently enrolled at Little Angels;
• indicates that the family is willing to accept care earlier than the preferred start date; or
• updates the preferred start date, location, program, schedule or other application information.

OneHSN does not flag an application as updated or provide a change date or history. Without direct contact from the family, identifying these details would require the Program Manager to repeatedly open every individual application, which is not reasonably possible given the volume of applications.

Unless Little Angels has received direct notification of sibling status or an earlier acceptable start period, the preferred start date displayed on the working waitlist will be treated as the earliest month for which the family is requesting active consideration.

A current Little Angels family seeking care for another child must notify the Program Manager directly when the OneHSN application is submitted so the applicable priority can be recorded. A family requesting consideration before its preferred start date must directly identify the earliest month in which it is ready to accept care. All families must directly notify the Program Manager whenever the preferred start date, location, program or required schedule changes.

Selecting sibling status or willingness to accept an earlier space within OneHSN remains important but does not replace direct notification. After receiving notice, the Program Manager will review the application, manually assign the applicable priority and update Little Angels’ internal tracking. Neither priority nor willingness to begin earlier guarantees an offer of care.

4. How Waitlist Numbers and Positions Work

Little Angels does not maintain one centre-wide numbered list because infant, toddler and preschool spaces are not interchangeable. Instead, each application is tracked within the child’s applicable location, program/age grouping and anticipated intake period.

Important: A waitlist number or reported position is a transparency tool. It is not a guarantee that the child will receive the next available space. A child may move forward or backward as applications are updated, withdrawn, transferred to another age group or location, or given an approved priority.

For monitoring purposes:

• the centralized application date remains the child’s chronological date;
• Little Angels may assign or report a position within the child’s current program/intake group;
• the position will be recalculated when requested and may change over time;
• a reported waitlist position is a snapshot based on the information available on the date it is provided. The number may move forward or backward because of priority placements, internal room transitions, changes to a child’s age or program eligibility, updated requested start dates or schedules, applications being added, updated or withdrawn, changes in vacancies or room capacity, delayed or declined offers, staffing requirements, or other operational factors described in this policy;
• families will not receive names, dates of birth, circumstances or other identifying information about other applicants; and
• families may request their child’s current position. The position will be calculated within the child’s applicable location, program/age grouping and active-consideration period using the information available on the date of the request. This position is not fixed and may change over time; and

 5. Placement Priority Categories

When a suitable space becomes available, Little Angels will review eligible applications using the following priority categories:

Order

Category

Application

1

Children of current staff members

Supports recruitment and retention where the requested placement is operationally possible.

2

Children currently enrolled who must transition

Supports continuity of care and preserves an existing child’s placement as the child ages.

3

Siblings of currently enrolled children

Supports family continuity when the space is suitable for the sibling.

4

Community applicants

Considered using the placement factors below, including chronological application date.

Priority does not override licensing requirements, room capacity, the suitability of the available schedule, or the need to maintain a workable progression of children through the centre.

 6. Placement Factors Within a Priority Category

Within the applicable priority category, Little Angels will consider the following factors together. No single placement factor guarantees that a child will receive the nest available space:

• the child’s date of birth and age on the proposed start date;
• the program and licensed age grouping connected to the available space;
• the family’s preferred start date, any directly confirmed earlier acceptable start period and whether the family is ready to begin care;
• the days and hours requested and whether they match the available schedule;
• the child’s original chronological application date;
• current and planned internal transitions between rooms;
• the anticipated length of time the child can remain in the program;
• whether accepting the child would create a foreseeable inability to transition into the next program;
• the centre’s licensed capacity, staffing, group composition and operational needs; and
• Little Angels’ ability to meet the child’s needs in accordance with applicable human-rights and accessibility obligations.

 7. Admission and Re-admission Eligibility

Placement on the waitlist, a priority category or a reported waitlist position does not guarantee admission, re-admission or an offer of care. Before an offer is made, Little Angels may review whether the applicant and family meet the requirements of the Admission and Continued Enrolment Policy.

This review may apply to a new family, a sibling of a currently enrolled child, a child seeking another Little Angels placement, or a family seeking to return after care has ended. Consistent with the Admission and Continued Enrolment Policy, where a family has previously been enrolled, previous compliance with centre policies, enrolment agreements and the Parent Code of Conduct may be considered as part of the admission decision.

Admission or re-admission may be refused, deferred or made conditional where a ground in the Admission and Continued Enrolment Policy applies. This may include unresolved fees or documentation; repeated non-compliance with policies or agreements; conduct that is abusive, threatening, intimidating, discriminatory, harassing or otherwise compromises health, safety or well-being; a significant breakdown in the respectful and collaborative relationship required for effective communication and safe program operation; or another circumstance in which admission would not support the safe, respectful or effective operation of the program.

Any decision must be based on documented, relevant circumstances and made in accordance with applicable legislation. A family will not be declined because of personal preference, assumptions, a prohibited ground, or a child’s disability or support needs. Where concerns may reasonably be resolved, Little Angels will follow the resolution and accommodation process in the Admission and Continued Enrolment Policy. The Licensee or an authorized designate will make the final decision and the reason will be recorded confidentially.

 8. Review and Selection When a Space Opens

1. The Program Manager identifies the location, program, schedule and proposed start date of the available space.
2. Little Angels will first consider eligible families whose preferred start month displayed in OneHSN, or whose directly confirmed earliest acceptable month recorded in Little Angels’ internal tracking, matches the month in which the space is available. Applications showing a start date that has already passed will not normally be considered until the family updates the application to the current month. If no family requesting the current month accepts the space, Little Angels may then review otherwise eligible applications showing an earlier start month.
3. Using the working waitlist and Little Angels’ internal priority records, eligible children in the applicable priority category and intake group are reviewed. The Program Manager may open individual candidate applications to verify details and manually apply the appropriate OneHSN priority. This policy does not require the routine reopening of every centralized application.
4. The Program Manager considers the placement factors in section 6 and confirms admission or readmission eligibility under section 7.
5. The Program Manager records the review on the Waitlist Placement Decision Record.
6. If two or more children are equally suitable after the applicable factors are considered, the earlier original application date will receive priority.
7. The selected family is contacted using the current information recorded in the centralized application system.
8. The decision record will be retained internally to demonstrate that the policy was followed. The record is confidential and intended for internal use only.

 9. Offer of Care

An offer will identify the location, program, available hours, proposed start date, response deadline and any required registration steps. Unless Little Angels specifies a different deadline because of the circumstances, the family must respond within 24 hours.

• Acceptance is not complete until the required enrolment documents and payment arrangements have been completed.
• If a family declines an offer but wishes to remain on the waitlist, they must update their application to show the start date, location, schedule or type of care they now require. Where permitted by the centralized waitlist system, the family may keep its original application date. The child will only be considered for spaces that match the updated application.
• If the family does not respond by the deadline after reasonable contact attempts, Little Angels may move to the next eligible applicant and will close the application.
• An offer cannot be transferred to another child or family.

 10. Maintaining an Active Application

Families are responsible for keeping their application current. Little Angels may ask families to confirm ongoing interest, particularly when the requested start date is approaching or has passed.

• Applications with outdated contact details, a requested preferred start date over 3 months or care requirements that are no longer accurate may be removed from the oneHSN system.
• Families are responsible for keeping their requested start date current. If the requested start month passes and care is still required, the family must update the application to the next month in which care is needed. For example, if care was requested for September and no space was offered, the family must change the requested start date to October. If no October space is offered and care is still required, the date must be updated to November. Updating the requested start date does not change the family’s original application date where the centralized waitlist system permits that date to be retained. Little Angels is not responsible for repeatedly contacting families to remind them to update their requested start date.
• When a current family selects that they are willing to accept an earlier space within OneHSN this does not, by itself, ensure active consideration for an earlier month because that selection is not automatically displayed on Little Angels’ working waitlist. Current families must notify the Program Manager, through the waitlist email to identify the earliest month in which it is ready to accept care.
• When a community applicant selects that they are willing to accept an earlier space within the oneHSN system, this does not, by itself, ensure active consideration for an earlier month, because that selection is not automatically displayed. It is up to community applicants to ensure their preferred start date is up to date and current.
• Where a requested start date has passed by more than three months and the family has not updated or confirmed the application after contact, the application may be removed or closed in accordance with the centralized system’s procedures.
• Removal for non-response does not prevent a family from submitting a new application; however, the new application will receive a new application date unless the centralized system provides otherwise.
• Families may contact the Program Manager with questions about their own application or waitlist status. If Little Angels identifies that incorrect information was used or that an administrative or procedural error occurred, the error will be corrected where reasonably possible. This may include correcting the child’s information, restoring the appropriate application date or waitlist status, or reconsidering the child for a future suitable space. Correcting an error does not guarantee immediate placement and will not require Little Angels to withdraw a space that has already been accepted by another family. Families may not request that a placement decision be repeated or changed solely because they disagree with the decision or were not offered a space.
• Placement decisions are final and will not result in the displacement of a child who has already accepted a space.

 11. Parent Inquiries and Monitoring a Position

The Program Manager is responsible for responding to waitlist inquiries. A parent may request information about the child’s application and current position. Little Angels will provide, as applicable:

• confirmation that the application is active;
• the location, program/age grouping and intake period in which the child is currently being tracked;
• the priority category and earliest acceptable start period recorded by Little Angels, where applicable;
• the child’s current chronological position within the applicable group; this number will change pending factors listed above.
• whether the child is currently eligible for consideration based on age and the applicable start period recorded by Little Angels; and
• an explanation that the position may change and does not guarantee the next space.

Little Angels will not disclose another applicant’s identity, personal information, priority circumstances or reason for selection or non-selection.

 12. Privacy and Records

Waitlist applications and decision records contain confidential information. Access is limited to employees who require the information to administer admissions. Records will be stored securely and retained in accordance with Little Angels’ record-retention practices, applicable law and any service-system requirements. Waitlist information will not be publicly posted in a manner that identifies a child or family.

 13. Roles and ResponsibilitiesLicensee/Director

• approves the policy and ensures it remains consistent with legislation and service-system requirements;
• ensures that any decision to decline admission or readmission is made by the Licensee or an authorized designate in accordance with the Admission and Continued Enrolment Policy;
• reviews concerns involving alleged unfairness, discrimination or departure from policy; and
• ensures periodic audits of decision records.

Program Manager

• maintains and reviews waitlist information, communicates with families and documents placement decisions;
• maintains Little Angels’ internal priority records using verified application information and direct notifications received from families, reviews the relevant individual application and manually assigns the applicable OneHSN priority;
• may approve or decline admission or readmission when acting as the Licensee’s authorized designate and must document the reasons for the decision;
• ensures that approved priority categories and placement factors are applied consistently; and
• protects applicant confidentiality.

Families

• provide accurate information, keep the OneHSN application current, directly notify the Program Manager when submitting a sibling application, requesting active consideration for an earlier start period or making a relevant change, and respond within stated deadlines.