Canada
Ontario, Alberta and B.C. compliance
The provincial rules RoundUp follows for centres in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, each with the regulation it comes from, and where to find each one.
Before you rely on it
Everything here follows your centre's province, from the address on its profile in the director portal. Each rule was read from the regulation it cites, but none has been confirmed with your province's licensing body. Check what RoundUp shows against your licence and your licensing officer's requirements, as you would any tool. The ratio side is in Setting up a Canadian centre.
Staff qualifications
In the director portal, edit a staff member under Staff & pay → Team and set their Qualification, with its registry number and whether it's suspended:
- Ontario: RECE, director-approved, or the school-age diplomas and OCT.
- Alberta: Level 1, 2 or 3.
- British Columbia: ITE, SNE, ECE (five-year or one-year), ECE assistant, or responsible adult.
Rooms & ratios → Ratios, and the app's Ratio Monitoring, then show beside each room's headcount whether the staff on duty hold the credentials the province requires: Qualified staff OK or Qualification short. Alberta's whole-program levels and Level 3 supervisor are shown once at the top. Until anyone's qualification is recorded, it says so rather than calling a room short.
First aid on duty
From each person's first aid and CPR expiry dates (see Document expirations), Ratios also shows whether the staff on duty meet the province's rule:
- Ontario: every employee counted in ratio holds current first aid and CPR; new hires in their first three months are flagged rather than counted short (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 58).
- Alberta: at least one certified person on duty (Sch. 1, s. 25(3)). Compliance also flags when fewer than one in every two primary staff hold first aid (s. 25(1)(b)).
- British Columbia: immediate access to a certified employee (CCLR s. 23).
Until anyone's dates are recorded, it says so rather than calling a room short.
Police record checks
Staff & pay → Background checks has a Police record checks section. It shows each staff member's last check and when the next is due, and records new checks:
- Ontario: a vulnerable sector check from a police service every 5 years, prepared no more than 6 months before you receive it, and an offence declaration in each year between, due 15 days after the anniversary (O. Reg. 137/15, ss. 59, 62). The section shows when each person's next declaration is due.
- Alberta: a criminal record check with a vulnerable sector search at the start date and every 3 years after, with 8 weeks allowed for a new hire (Sch. 1, s. 25).
- British Columbia: a Criminal Records Review Program authorization every 5 years (CRRA s. 10).
An overdue check or declaration shows as an expired background check in Compliance.
Health card numbers
A child's profile in the portal shows the provincial health number under Health where the law allows a child care centre to keep one:
- British Columbia: required (CCLR s. 57(2)(a)).
- Alberta: optional, with a the family declined option (Health Information Act s. 21(3)).
- Ontario: there's no field, and the profile says why (PHIPA s. 34).
The number stays hidden until someone clicks Show, and each time it's shown is logged.
Vaccines and exemptions
Ontario and Alberta centres add immunizations from their province's vaccine names, including combined shots, and Ontario centres record exemptions on the province's approved forms. See Immunization records.
Reporting to the regulator
On New incident, in the app or the portal, the province's reportable categories are listed: Ontario's serious occurrences, Alberta's reportable incidents and B.C.'s Schedule H. Choosing one marks the report reportable. In the portal's Records & reports → Incidents, a reportable incident opens a Report to the regulator panel:
- who to tell, how, and by when, with overdue ones flagged on the list;
- when you reported it and the reference number;
- Alberta: when the written report is due;
- Ontario: the summary to post for parents, the day it went up and the day it may come down, and Print posting notice, which prints only that summary, never the child's name or the incident's own description.
Ontario's categories read in French as the regulation words them. See Incidents and accidents.
Drills and fire safety
Records & reports → Compliance → Emergency drills lists the drills your province requires, with the rule, when each was last done and when it's next due. Ontario centres also see the missing-child drill, required from January 1, 2027, and get a Missing child drill with its own checklist in the app; B.C. centres see the yearly emergency plan practice. See Emergency drills.
- Ontario: Fire alarm and equipment tests. Record each fire alarm system test and fire protection equipment test (extinguishers, emergency lighting, sprinklers, smoke alarms or other) with the date, who tested, and the result; a failed test needs a note on what was found. Ontario requires a record of every test, kept at least 12 months (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 68(1)(e)). How often to test comes from the Fire Code and your building's fire safety plan, so nothing is scheduled or flagged overdue.
- Alberta: Fire prevention inspections. Record each inspection (date, who inspected, and whether hazards were found, with a note when they were). The fire code has staff of daycare centres caring for more than 10 children inspect at least monthly (National Fire Code – 2023 Alberta Edition, Div. B, 2.10.4.1). An overdue inspection appears under What needs doing.
Records and retention
- Retention. Settings → Privacy → Retention windows shows Ontario's 3 years after a child is discharged (O. Reg. 137/15, s. 72(5)) and B.C.'s 2 years (s. 60(5)) beside attendance and health.
- Enrolment records. The app's compliance forms list what each regulation requires on a child's enrolment record, with citations.
- Licensing binder. One ZIP of the records an inspector reviews, including serious occurrences for Ontario; see Licensing reports.
More: All director guides