Check public sources
Scheduled collectors retrieve the public childcare records used for each supported region.
Methodology & data freshness
How Daycare Signal works
Daycare Signal is a monitoring layer on top of public childcare data. We do not create vacancies, reserve spaces or replace a provider. We collect the strongest signal each public source actually publishes, track changes over time and notify parents when a matching opening is detected.
Search supported citiesTrack availability over time
Daycare Signal keeps a history of published availability so parents can see when a provider's reported status changes.
Detect real signals
Where the source supports it, openings, closures and increases or decreases become timestamped availability changes.
Send matching alerts
Email alerts are available where a reliable vacancy signal exists: Winnipeg, supported BC cities, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton. Directory-only locations do not generate vacancy alerts.
Data sources and refresh cadence
The interface is deliberately consistent, but source precision is not. Daycare Signal keeps the strongest claim each public source actually supports instead of converting weaker data into a more precise vacancy claim.
| Region | Public source | Refresh cadence | What Daycare Signal shows | Email alerts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitoba / Winnipeg | Manitoba Child Care Search | Weekdays: approximately every 2 hours from 07:00 to 22:00 Winnipeg time. Scheduled collection is paused on weekends. | Numeric provider-reported vacancies by age group plus detected change history. | Yes — alerts when the public source reports a matching change. |
| British Columbia / Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Victoria | BC Child Care Map Data | Weekdays: one scheduled collection, with same-day retries if an earlier collection does not publish. | Licensed programs and age-specific vacancy indicators where published. Indicators are not converted into exact spot counts. | Yes — source-based vacancy alerts. |
| Toronto | City of Toronto child-care data | Weekdays: one scheduled collection, with same-day retries if an earlier collection does not publish. | Licensed programs plus age-specific Yes / No / Unknown vacancy signals where the City publishes them. Licensed capacity is not treated as a vacancy. | Yes — source-based vacancy alerts. |
| Peel / Mississauga, Brampton | Region of Peel licensed child-care data | Queried from the public directory when the page loads. | Licensed centre locations and program information. Daycare Signal does not manufacture a current vacancy status where no reliable vacancy feed is available. | No — directory-only until a reliable vacancy source exists. |
| Alberta / Calgary, Edmonton | Government of Alberta Child Care Lookup | Monthly. During the first seven calendar days of each month, Daycare Signal retries on weekdays until the current-month snapshot is published. | A facility-level availability signal plus the age groups the program serves. If a centre serves the selected age and reports space overall, the available space may still belong to another age group. | Yes — monthly source-based alerts when a change is detected. |
Important: a published opening is a signal, not a reservation. Availability can change between checks, and providers may have eligibility, scheduling or waitlist constraints that are not represented in the source. Always confirm directly with the provider.
Why the labels differ by province
Daycare Signal does not force weaker data into a stronger claim. Winnipeg can show a numeric age-specific count because Manitoba publishes one. BC and Toronto keep age-specific Yes / No / Unknown signals. Alberta keeps a facility-wide availability signal separate from the age groups served. Mississauga and Brampton remain directory-only because a reliable current vacancy feed is not available there.
What happens when a collection fails
Incomplete or invalid collections do not overwrite the last known-good published data. This prevents a timeout or incomplete upstream response from being turned into a false closure.