Licensed or private home child care
Home daycare software for Ontario
NestliCare is free home daycare software for Ontario home child care providers, whether you run a private home daycare or work with a licensed agency. Attendance, daily updates, parent messaging, invoicing in Canadian dollars with Interac e-Transfer instructions on every invoice, year-end receipts with your SIN or Business Number for the T778 claim, and a French parent app. Unlimited children, no paid plan, and the only cost is the standard processing fee when a parent pays online.
The three things an Ontario home daycare needs from software
A daily log parents trust, invoices that match how families actually pay, and a receipt in February that the CRA accepts. Everything else is a bonus.
- Check-in and check-out with a daily log parents see in real time
- Invoices in Canadian dollars with e-Transfer instructions on each one
- Pre-authorized debit and cards for families who prefer online payment
- Year-end receipts with your SIN or BN, in English or French
- French parent app for Franco-Ontarian families
- Monthly attendance and enrolment export for agencies and funding portals
Paid by e-Transfer, without the chasing
Most Ontario home daycares are paid by Interac e-Transfer, and no online processor can take one. So NestliCare does the next best thing: your e-Transfer address sits on every unpaid invoice a family sees, in the app and on the web, with your note about autodeposit or what to write in the message. When the money lands, one tap marks the invoice paid by e-Transfer, and the payment flows into that family's year-end receipt. Families who would rather pay online can use pre-authorized debit or a card.
Home daycare software for Ontario, answered plainly
- Does it work for private (unlicensed) home child care in Ontario?
- Yes. You do not need a licence or an agency to use NestliCare. Add your families, check children in and out, send daily updates, and invoice in Canadian dollars. If you later join a licensed home child care agency, nothing changes in the app.
- My parents pay by e-Transfer. Can I stop chasing them for it?
- You add your e-Transfer email or mobile number once, and it shows next to every unpaid invoice in the parent app and on the web, with any note you want (autodeposit on, put the child's name in the message). When the transfer arrives you mark the invoice paid with "Interac e-Transfer" as the method, and it lands on the family's year-end receipt.
- Can I give parents a receipt with my SIN for their taxes?
- Yes. The CRA asks individual providers to put their SIN on childcare receipts. Enter it once under Legal and registration; it is stored encrypted, never shown again on screen, and printed only on each family's annual receipt, which they download themselves in English or French.
- Is there a limit on how many children I can add?
- No. Unlimited children, families, and staff, and no paid plan to move to. Ontario sets its own limits on how many children a home child care provider may care for; the software does not.
- What does it cost?
- The software is free. If a parent chooses to pay online, the payment carries the standard processing fee in Canadian dollars: 2.9% plus C$0.50 on cards, or 1.5% capped at C$6.50 on pre-authorized debit, covered by the parent by default. e-Transfers, cash, and cheques cost nothing.
- Do you support licensed home child care agencies and CWELCC reporting?
- A licensed agency can run its providers' rooms as one organization and pull a monthly attendance and enrolment export: days attended, days absent, hours, enrolment status, age group, subsidy award and case number per child, as a CSV or a printable PDF. It is the sheet the funding paperwork asks for. There is no direct portal integration.
- Is it available in French?
- Yes. Franco-Ontarian families can use the parent app in French, and their year-end receipt renders in French. You can run the admin side in English or French too.
- How do I move my families in?
- Add them yourself in minutes, or send us what you have, even a spreadsheet or photos of paper forms, and we load it for you at no cost. Parents get an invitation and set up their own app.