Daycare Furniture and Licensing Requirements in Canada

Most of what a licensing officer looks at in a classroom has nothing to do with the furniture. The parts that do are specific: how much unobstructed floor there is per child, what children sleep on and how far apart, whether there is a change table beside a sink, whether hazardous materials are locked away, and whether everything in the room is sound.

Two of those change what you should buy. The rest are satisfied by ordinary well-made furniture. We make classroom furniture rather than licensing files, so treat this as a furniture maker's reading of the rules. Your licensing officer is the authority on your centre, and each section links to the regulation it draws on.

Built-in storage counts against your capacity

In Ontario, licensed capacity is worked out from unobstructed floor space, and built-in furniture is an obstruction. The provincial licensing manual says so directly: counters, built-in shelves and cubbies cannot be counted toward the space per child. Moveable play equipment can.

A wall of built-in millwork, then, can reduce the number of children you are licensed for. The same storage on casters usually does not. If your room is anywhere near a capacity threshold, specify moveable units and keep the built-ins for staff areas. Confirm the calculation with your licensing officer before you order — the measurement is theirs to make, not ours.

Floor space per child

• Ontario — 3.87 m² per child of unobstructed play activity space for infant, toddler and preschool groups; 2.58 m² per child for kindergarten and school-age groups (Licensing Manual, Part 4, s.16(1)).
• Alberta — 3 m² per child for day care programs, 2.5 m² per child of play space for preschool and out-of-school care, measured on primary play space and excluding kitchens, bathrooms and staff areas (Alberta Child Care Licensing Handbook).
• British Columbia — varies by facility type, set out in the Child Care Licensing Regulation. Confirm the figure for your facility with your regional health authority licensing officer.

Other provinces set their own figures. Wherever you are, measure the room before you choose the furniture.

Sleep and rest equipment

Sleep is the most prescriptive part of the regulations, and the spacing rules decide how much floor is left for everything else.

• Ontario (s.19(2)) requires a cradle or crib for each child under 12 months; a crib, cradle or cot for children 12 to 30 months in care six hours or more; and a cot for children 30 months to six years in care six hours or more. Cots must sit at least 45.7 cm (18 inches) apart, with an aisle of at least 91.4 cm (36 inches) kept clear for evacuation.
• British Columbia's Furnishings and Equipment Guidelines ask for a cot or foam mattress at least 7.5 cm thick with a waterproof cover for each napping child, or a crib for each infant.

We don't make cots, cribs or mats, and you should buy those from a supplier who does. The reason they matter here is floor area: the sleeping layout and its evacuation aisles come out of the same room as everything else. Draw the nap plan before you specify tables and shelving.

The diapering area

Ontario requires table or counter space beside a sink for each infant, toddler or family age group (s.19(2)). BC's guidance lists a change table or change mats, together with sturdy step stools so children can reach the sink, toilet and change table.

The step stools deserve more attention than they usually get. A child who can climb into the changing station saves an educator dozens of lifts over a shift, and the routine becomes something done with the child rather than to them. Our changing stations come with and without stairs, and our one-step and two-step stools cover the sink.

Locked storage for hazardous materials

Ontario s.15(2) requires medical supplies, cleaning materials and hazardous substances — bleach, detergent, hand sanitiser, medication, sharp objects — to be kept inaccessible to children, in designated locked storage away from play areas. Every province has an equivalent rule.

In practice this is often solved with a cupboard down the hall, which staff then stop using because it is inconvenient. Lockable storage inside the room works better, because it is the option people will actually use. Our teacher cabinets lock and sit on casters.

Safe condition and good repair

Ontario s.19(3) requires play materials, equipment and furnishings to be kept in safe condition and good repair, free from hazards. It is the clause an inspector reaches for when something wobbles, splinters or has a part missing.

It is also the one worth thinking about at the point of purchase, because it applies for as long as you own the furniture. Ask whether a single failed part can be replaced, and whether it will still exist in five years. Furniture made in overseas batches is gone when the batch is gone. Ours is cut from files that stay on our machines in Moorefield, Ontario, so a door, a shelf or a caster can be remade later.

Licensing does not require certification

None of the furniture guidance above asks for a third-party product certification. BC's Furnishings and Equipment Guidelines make no reference to CSA, ASTM or CPSC standards for furniture. Ontario's requirements concern floor space, sleep equipment, access to hazardous materials and repair.

What an inspector may actually ask for is documentation of what a product is made from and what is in the finish. Ask any supplier, ourselves included, for that in writing. What we build with, and what we do and don't claim, is set out on our Materials & Safety page.

A checklist before your licensing visit

• Measure unobstructed space. Take out counters, built-in shelving and cubbies, then divide by the per-child figure for your province and age group.
• Draw the nap layout first, with cot spacing and the evacuation aisle marked, before the rest of the furniture plan.
• Check the diapering station sits beside a sink, one per infant, toddler or family group, with a step stool children can use on their own.
• Lock what has to be locked, in the room rather than down the hall.
• Walk the room for wobble. Anything that rocks, splinters or is missing a part is a finding under the repair clause.
• Check heights against the children rather than the age band on the box. A chair two inches too tall leaves a child's feet in the air.
• Confirm tip resistance on anything a toddler will pull up on, and anchor tall units.
• Gather your documentation — materials, finishes, VOC content — before anyone asks for it.

Start with the floor plan

Most centres send us a floor plan before they buy anything. Our layout service comes back with what fits, where it goes and what it costs, and it is included with every commercial order. Because we cut the parts ourselves, a dimension can change to suit an alcove or a capacity calculation without becoming a special order.

There is more on how and where it is built on Made in Canada, room-by-room guidance on Daycare Furniture in Canada, and questions to ask any supplier on Canadian Classroom Furniture Manufacturers. Opening or renovating a centre? Tell us about the rooms and we will come back with a layout and a quote.

Provincial sources

• Ontario Child Care Centre Licensing Manual and O. Reg. 137/15 under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014.
• British Columbia — rules for operating a licensed child care facility.
• Alberta Child Care Licensing Handbook.

Requirements change. Confirm anything here against the current regulation and your own licensing officer before you rely on it.