Home daycare insurance in Ontario and across Canada protects licensed and unlicensed providers from the financial impact of accidents, third-party injury claims, property damage, and professional negligence. It’s not just insurance; it’s peace of mind for those who care for our future.
Home daycare owners may not have licences, but they may be required to get one depending on the province where the business is or the scope of their operations.
For example, in Ontario, home-based daycares and childcare centres require a licence if they care for more than five children younger than 13.
To become a licensed home daycare operator, you typically need a criminal background check, CPR certification, and a home safety inspection. Many insurance providers may want to see that your home daycare is licensed to meet these standards.
Insurance for home daycare and childcare centres is essential to protect your business’s finances, reputation, and legal liability.
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What Is Home Daycare Insurance?
Home daycare insurance in Canada, also known as childcare business insurance, protects your home-based daycare from unexpected risks and financial losses. It offers vital protection where your personal and professional lives overlap.
Most standard home insurance policies don’t fully cover home-based daycare businesses, leaving critical gaps in protection that may expose you to significant risk, or the coverage limit may be inadequate to cover the cost of damages or losses.
A business insurance policy for daycares typically includes the following coverages:
General liability insurance for home daycares is essential, as liability claims are the most common and costly risks for providers. It covers the costs of third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. It’s frequently called ‘slip-and-fall’ insurance because it covers you if someone is injured on your property.
For example, if a child in your care falls and fractures an arm while playing in the backyard, you may be liable for medical and rehabilitation expenditures. General liability insurance is designed to pay for those expenses.
It also protects you from personal advertising injury (also called reputational harm for allegations of defamation, libel, slander, or false advertising).
Most homeowners have residential home insurance (or should). However, a private home insurance policy may not be designed to cover home-based businesses, and if it does, the coverage limits may be insufficient.
You’re supervising energetic little kids who can be unpredictable. Consider the supplies, furniture, and electronics you have in your home that you also use to run your daycare. They need to be covered in the event of damage or loss.
Commercial property insurance for home daycare providers covers your business property from unexpected damage or loss. It protects your business, contents, and furniture from damage or loss related to fire, flood, theft, and vandalism.
Commercial property insurance for home daycares may also include business interruption coverage. It provides you with financial support to pay for overhead costs if you’re closed due to an insurable physical damage loss while repairs to your property are underway.
Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance for home daycare providers, also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, protects against claims of negligence, mistakes, or failure to deliver promised care.
Consider this: if you or one of your staff make a mistake, or the parents of a child in your care don’t understand your service regulations, it could trigger an argument, complaint, or worse – a lawsuit. Professional liability insurance can help you deal with such a scenario.
What Other Types of Insurance Do Home Daycare Businesses in Canada Need?
There are other types of insurance for home daycares you should consider for your policy to have comprehensive protection, such as:
- Cyber Liability Insurance
If your home daycare business has a website, uses email to communicate with existing and potential customers, or stores customer data on a server or in the cloud, you should have cyber liability protection to cover costs that arise from a data breach or cyber-attack. Contrary to popular belief, even micro-sized businesses are highly susceptible to cyber-attacks – not just large organizations in hackers’ crosshairs.
- Abuse Liability Insurance
Allegations and lawsuits related to sexual, physical, or mental abuse, harassment and misconduct are always possible for home daycare providers. Adding this type of coverage to your policy can help you deal with such an unfortunate scenario should it arise.
How Much Does Home Daycare Insurance Cost?
How much does home daycare insurance cost in Ontario or Canada? Insurers consider factors like your location, licensing status, experience, and the services you provide.
A policy for a licensed home daycare with general liability and professional liability insurance with a combined $2 million coverage limit may cost approximately $800 per year.
How to Get Low-Cost Home Daycare Insurance Coverage
Insurance is essential for home-based businesses like daycares. The good news is that comprehensive, low-cost home daycare insurance can be purchased quickly and easily through Zensurance.
Fill out an online application for a free quote in less than five minutes.
Our knowledgeable team of brokers will shop our partner network of over 50 insurers to find you the low-cost insurance policy you require, customize it to suit your requirements and budget, and issue policy documents and a certificate of insurance in 48 hours or less.
– Updated July 9, 2025.
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