Children who attend licensed child care facilities are required through the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 to have up to date immunizations as recommended by the local Medical Officer of Health (Regulation 137/15).

In Renfrew County and District, every child attending licensed child care must be immunized based on their age as recommended in the routine immunization schedule for Ontario. Immunizations are available at our immunization clinics and from family physicians.

Responsibilities of Child Care Facilities

Each child care facility is responsible for ensuring that immunizations for each infant/child enrolled in the facility are up-to-date. This includes keeping immunization records on file and forwarding copies to the Health Unit. If a parent/guardian choses to complete an exemption form, the Health Unit requires the original and the child care facility should keep a photocopy.

Please refer to the Timeline and Instruction document / Calendrier et instructions for direction on how child care facility operators are to report the immunization status of all enrolled children.

Please refer to the following documents for reporting immunizations:

English

• Immunization Assessment Tool for Licensed Child Care Providers 
• Immunization Program Questionnaire
• Child Care Facility Enrollment Report
• Report Your Immunization Records Poster

French

• Outil d’évaluation de l’immunisation pour les fournisseurs de services de garde agréés
• Questionnaire du programme d’Immunisation
• Rapport d’inscriptions actuelles annuel 
• Déclarer votre carnet de vaccination 

Employee/Volunteer/Student Immunizations

According to the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA), “Every licensee of a child care facility shall ensure that each person employed, has a health assessment and record of immunization as recommended by the local Medical Officer of Health”.

The Medical Officer of Health for Renfrew County requires all child care employees, students and volunteers have up-to-date immunizations. Please refer to Immunization Recommendations for Employees of Child Care Facilities / Vaccinations pour les employés travaillant dans des établissements de garde d’enfants for a complete list of required and recommended immunizations. Child care facility operators are responsible for ensuring that each employee/volunteer/student has a complete immunization record on file.

An employee who objects to immunization due to medical or non-medical reasons must complete a standardized approved exemption form from the Ministry of Education and provide it to the child care operator.

Exemption Requirements

All exemptions should be submitted on the forms provided by the Ministry of Education.

• Statement of conscience or religious belief must be completed by a parent or guardian.
• Statement of medical exemption must be completed by a medical doctor or nurse practitioner.

For further information or questions, call the Immunization Intake line at 613-732-9436 or 1-877-773-0004 or email Immunization@rcdhu.com

Child Care Centres are encouraged to develop and follow their own illness policy and procedures for exclusion.

Reportable Diseases

Licensed child care centres are legally required under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to report certain known or suspected diseases of public health significance (DOPHS) to Public Health to help control the spread of disease. The Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act lists over 70 DOPHS that must be reported to local health units. All reports are followed up by a Public Health Nurse or Public Health Inspector. To request a copy of A Public Health Guidance Document for Child Care Centres please email healthyenvironments@rcdhu.com.

The Communicable Disease Guidelines for School and Child Care Facilities resource is intended to provide you with general information about communicable diseases commonly experienced by children and to help you identify and prevent the spread of illness. Within this guide, you will find a description of common childhood diseases including information on how they are spread; incubation periods; periods of communicability; prevention; and facility reporting requirements. There is also information on general infection control practices that any facility can implement to prevent the spread of disease. To request a copy of this resource, please email infectiousdisease@rcdhu.com.

How to report diseases of public health significance

1. See the list of Reportable Diseases of Public Health Significance (July 2023) for specific reporting condition requirements.
2. For diseases that need to be reported immediately, call 613-732-3629 ext. 5 during office hours, and 613-735-9926 during evenings, weekends, and holidays.
3. For all reportable diseases, complete the Communicable Disease Reporting Form for Day Cares & Schools and fax to 613-735-3067 by the next business day.

Renfrew County and District Health Unit follows the Infectious Diseases Guidelines brought forth by the Ministry of Health in Long-Term Care. A suspected outbreak is defined as 2 or more people with the same symptoms, same room, and same day. The first step toward management of an outbreak is consultation with public health nurses or health inspectors for recommendations and guidelines at 613-732-3629. Child Care Providers have an important role in early identification of illnesses with children and staff. Parents must be encouraged to report their child’s illness and symptoms to help recognize an outbreak as early as possible. It is mandatory family members and/ or visitors are aware of an outbreak if it should occur. Ensure signs are posted at entrances and fact sheets are available for communication purposes.

Renfrew County and District Health Unit will work with you to ensure prevention, early detection and management of infectious diseases.

Control Measures

There are many ways child care centres can help identify and take action to limit the spread of illness, infection or infestation. Accurate policies and procedures promote an effective approach to infection prevention and control. Public Health requires your child care centre to have policies and procedures in place for your facility such as hand hygiene, glove use and diapering and toileting.

• Be Aware- We are Seeing an Increase in Gastrointestinal Illness 
• Be Aware- We are Seeing an Increase in Respiratory Illness
• Infection Control Chain

Cleaning and Disinfecting

It is important to keep surfaces and toys within the child care centre clean to stop the spread of illness. Cleaning is the physical removal of dirt and germs from a surface by wiping or scrubbing, while disinfection kills germs using a chemical solution.

Tips to Remember:

• Not all products are equal: some are cleaners, some are disinfectants, and some can be used for both. Review the label and ingredients to figure out what your product can be used for. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for product use (e.g., how long it must stay wet on a surface, mixing, and safety instructions)
• High-touch surfaces include doorknobs, toys and horizontal surfaces, such as table tops, are where bacteria and microorganisms are prone to settling. These surfaces require frequent cleaning and disinfection.

PHO Chlorine Dilution Calculator Tool

Helpful Resources

• PHO Link: Doffing PPE
• PHO Link: Donning PPE
• RCDHU Link: COVID-19 PPE Modification in Schools Fact Sheet
• RCDHU Link: My Mask Protects YOU Poster
• RCDHU Link: Diarrhea – The Scoop on Poop
• RCDHU Link: Chlorine (Bleach) Solution for Disinfecting
• RCDHU Link: Cleaning and Disinfecting Shared Items

Resources en françcais

• Enlever l’équipement de protection individuelle
• Comment mettre l’équipment de protection individuelle

A positive relationship with food starts early in life with good eating habits. Child care providers play a key role in helping children develop a lifelong positive relationship with food. Since kids eat at least half of their meals and snacks in child care, it’s a great chance to offer nutritious foods and introduce them to new ones.

Both children and child care providers have a role to play in feeding.

It is up to you as the child care provider to decide:

• What foods to offer children
• When to feed children
• Where to feed children

Trust all children to decide:

• Which foods to eat (of the foods offered)
• How much to eat

Child Care Menu Planning

The Ontario Dietitians in Public Health (ODPH) developed the Child Care Menu Planning – Practical Guide (Practical Guide) to help child care providers make sure that all meals, snacks, and beverages served to children aged one year and older meet healthy eating guidelines. The Practical Guide is:

• Based on the guidance of Canada’s Food Guide (2019)
• Aligned with requirements set out by the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014
• Referenced in the Ministry of Education’s Child Care Centre and Home Child Care Licensing Manuals

ODPH has also developed complementary resources to support implementation of the Practical Guide including:

• Modifying recipes to meet the Practical Guide
• Increasing the use of plan-based proteins
• Common food allergen substitutions for child care settings
• Reducing food costs and environmental impacts
• Sample menus for child care settings
• Responsive feeding

Child care staff can also refer to the Paint Your Plate with Vegetables and Fruit – A Toolkit for Ontario Child Care Providers which offers activity cards, recipes and promotional material to incorporate vegetables and fruit in the child care setting.

Helpful Resources

Unlock Food – Children’s Nutrition
Ontario Dietitians in Public Health Child Care Resources
Food Allergy Canada – Child Care
Health811

• Common Childhood Illness and Exclusion
• Children’s Hand Washing
• Alcohol Based Hand Rub
• Diapering
• Toileting 
• Increase in Respiratory Illness
• Increase GastrointestinaI Illness
• Respiratory Outbreak
• Gastrointestinal Outbreak
• Child Care Centre Cleaning and Disinfecting Schedule
• Child Care Centre Bleach as Disinfectant
• Child Care Centre Cleaning and Disinfecting Toys
• Are Your Tots Up to Date with Their Shots?
• Sunscreen Fact Sheet
• Sun Safety Fact Sheet

• Caring for Kids 
• Caring for Kids – Well Beings: A Guide to Health and Child Care
• Ontario – Child Care Rules in Ontario
• Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, S.O. 2014, c. 11, Sched. 1
• County of Renfrew – Child Care and Early Years Division
• Public Health Agency of Canada – Infectious Diseases
• Ontario – Ministry of Education