What the information means
Every element on a centre card, what it tells you, and where it comes from. Short version: blue and green badges are about money, the sage chip is the city's quality assessment, gold stars are parent opinion.
Tap any numbered pin to jump to its explanation, or “Show on card” to jump back.
Preschool 4.40/5 Vacancies11
Books 4.33 City: 4.47
Toys washing 2.00 fixed 2025-06-19 ✓12
Distance
Straight-line distance from your postal code or, with a commute saved, how far the centre pulls you off your home→work route.
Source: Computed on your device · Show on card ↑
Save & share
The bookmark saves a centre to your list, stored only on your device, with no account. From the list you can share a link that opens your exact shortlist on anyone's phone.
Source: Stored in your browser · Show on card ↑
Subsidy available
The centre accepts the City of Toronto fee subsidy: income-based help paying for care. You apply to the city, not the centre.
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
CWELCC $10/day
Enrolled in the Canada-Wide system that caps fees for children under 6. Per-centre and voluntary. Centres showing neither money badge charge full market fees (“standard rate”).
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
City AQI chip
The city's own annual quality assessment, 0–5. We always show the centre's lowest-scored program, so a weak room can't hide behind a strong one. 3 is the city's minimum standard.
Source: City assessments · Show on card ↑
Vacancies
The city's reported vacancy flag per program. It can lag, so always confirm with the centre.
Source: City centre pages · Show on card ↑
Stars
Google review average and count: parent opinion, not an official measure. Review text lives on Google Maps (we never store it).
Source: Google, refreshed monthly · Show on card ↑
Operator & capacity
Non-profit, commercial, or city-operated. City-operated centres use the central TELCCS waitlist. The number beside it is total licensed capacity, not current openings.
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
Age groups
Which age groups the centre is licensed for. The expanded card shows licensed spaces per group: capacity, not current openings.
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
Address & full profile
The expanded card shows the street address and building type. “Full centre profile” opens the centre's own page: everything on the card plus nearby alternatives, printable and shareable. “Map” opens Google Maps.
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
City quality data
The city's AQI score and vacancy flag for each program the centre runs. The sage chip at the top of the card is always the lowest of these scores, so one weak room can't hide behind a strong one.
Source: City assessments · Show on card ↑
Quality dimensions, and what “fixed” means
The ~20 specific things the city scores (Books, Language & Literacy, Electronic Media Usage, and more), each beside the city-wide average. No combined score, on purpose: you decide what matters most.
Scores are a snapshot of the annual assessment day. Below 3, the city sets a corrective-action deadline; once the centre corrects it, an inspector verifies the fix and the city publishes that date: the “fixed” badge. The number does not change retroactively: “2.00 · fixed” means a real deficiency was found, corrected, and verified on the date shown. A good tour question: ask what changed since.
Source: City assessment detail · Show on card ↑
Inspection line
The most recent ChildCareSafe inspection date and outcome: pass or conditional pass. Centres with no record available say so explicitly.
Source: ChildCareSafe (city data) · Show on card ↑
Ontario licence details
Care options: schedule types the centre is licensed to offer: full/half day, before and after school, weekends, extended hours.
Additional languages: languages of service listed beyond English. Self-reported and sparse: a centre not listing a language may still offer it; when in doubt, ask.
Operating since / Operated by: original licence date, and the licensee, with location count when the operator runs multiple sites.
Source: Ontario licensing registry · Show on card ↑
How to apply
Waitlists are per-centre, so applying to several early is normal. Call directly, check the city's own page for vacancies, and note that city-operated centres use the central TELCCS waitlist instead.
Source: City registry · Show on card ↑
Reviews & contact
Google review average and count are a monthly snapshot; review text stays on Google Maps. “Contact Provider” starts a call or email to the centre, never through us.
Source: Google · the centre · Show on card ↑
What's different in the GTA (905)
GTA listings outside Toronto (Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Oakville and the rest of the 905) come from Ontario's provincial licence file, which is a directory: name, address, care options, languages of service, and licence history. It does not publish subsidy or CWELCC enrolment, quality scores, capacity, or vacancies, so those cards carry a source label and an explicit “not in this dataset” line instead of the Toronto badges, never a blank you can't interpret. Both programs still exist across the 905: ask the centre directly, and apply for the fee subsidy through your regional municipality (Durham, York, Peel or Halton).
What's different in Metro Vancouver
The card works the same way in every region, but the data behind it follows what each government publishes. On Metro Vancouver listings: the two Toronto money badges are replaced by a single CCFRI fee reduction badge (BC's provider-side program; the family-side Affordable Child Care Benefit is applied for separately); the vacancy table is self-reported by the provider and always shows its report date; there are no scored AQI dimensions, because BC publishes health-authority licensing inspection reports instead, linked from each listing. Google ratings and provider websites appear where we can match the provider confidently, same as the GTA. Absent data always says so explicitly rather than disappearing.
Data freshness is shown in the footer of every page. Program, quality, and vacancy data comes from public government sources and may lag; confirm details with centres directly before making decisions.