Claiming Child Care Expenses on your Income Tax

Official tax receipts will be available for download in the Digibot Parent Portal in late February 2024. Be sure to check your inbox for an email from us letting you know they are available.
 
A few notes regarding Tax Receipts:
  1. Tax receipts are available for download in the Digibot Parent Portaat the end of February 2024.
  2. You will receive a separate tax receipt for EACH of your children.
  3. If your child(ren) attended more than one location in 2023, you will receive a separate tax receipt for each centre, and each child.
  4. If your children attended Summer Camp, you will receive a separate tax receipt for Summer Camp.
  5. If you receive multiple tax receipts for the same child, remember to ADD the separate amounts together to get a total for each child to enter in your tax return.
  6. RisingOaks tax receipts list a time frame of January thru December of 2023 as it reflect the annual fees paid for the calendar year to RisingOaks Early Learning and for which the payments are eligible to be claimed.
  7. Though RisingOaks may list one or both parents names on the tax receipt, CRA rules clearly stipulate who in a household can claim the credit. Tax receipts will not be re-issued to list a different parent, or a single parent only. Please be sure to follow all regulations of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding who should claim these expenses and how much can be claimed.
  8. Please remember that CRA requires that you keep record of your tax receipts for seven (7) years. Remember to safely store your RisingOaks tax receipt. Though we can retrieve older tax receipts if you happen to misplace your copy, we do charge a service fee to retrieve copies from our archives.
Requests for a Paper Copy
Please email Brenda Kennedy at  and be sure to include:
  • your name
  • your child’s name
  • RisingOaks centre(s) your family attended in 2023 (or the year in question)

Inclement Weather and Unexpected Centre Closure

In the event of inclement weather, RisingOaks will close centes when the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) and the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) have decided to close schools. School boards try to make closure decisions by 6:00 a.m, and therefore, RisingOaks closures will be communicated immediately after hearing of school board decisions.

More details and FAQ Here 

Dressing for Outside

During this winter season, please ensure your child has a winter jacket, hat, mitts, snow pants, and an extra pair of socks and mitts every day. Children in full-day programs spend a minimum of 1 hour outdoors in the morning and again in the afternoon. School-age programs spend at least 30 minutes outdoors.

Accidents do happen - we recommend every child under 6 years of age have a change of clothes at the centre in their cubby or backpack. Please also include a reusable plastic bag that can be used to send wet or soiled clothing home for laundering.

As well, remember to label all items (with your Mabel's Labels, of course!).

mabels labels logo


Mabel's Labels


RisingOaks continues to team up with Mabel's Labels Fundraising. These labels are durable and waterproof. Simply click on the link below to order. You'll know you're crediting your order to us when our school name is displayed on the top left of the screen.

Thank you in advance for assisting us with our fundraising efforts! 

  • Click Here to Order, then search "RisingOaks Early Learning."
  • Choose optional RisingOaks Logo label pack by selecting COMBO LABEL PACKS > LOGO LABEL PACK
  • Enter discount code RISINGOAKS10 to get 10% off your order!

When it's too Cold for Outside

Some days it is just too cold to go outside, so children have the opportunity to use their gross motor skills indoors!

Our policy uses the following guidelines:
 
  1. Wind-chill (or "feels like") reading of -10˚C:
    • Infants remain indoors.
    • Toddlers reduced to 30 min. of outdoor time
    • Preschool reduced to 30-45 min. of outdoor time
  2. Wind-chill reading of -15˚C:
    • All infant, toddler will remain indoors.
    • Preschool reduced to 15–30 minutes with close monitoring.
    • School-age outdoors for 30-60 minutes with monitoring.
  3. Wind-chill reading of -20˚C+:
    • All infant, toddler and preschool children will remain indoors.
    • When the wind-chill reading is between -20°C and - 26.°C, school-age children are released to the school yard 15 minutes before the bell rings in the morning into the care of the school yard supervisors. A RisingOaks' educator will remain outside as a touch-point. School-age children may also have 15-minutes of outdoor time after school as well.
  4. Wind-chill reading of -27°C:
    1. All children will remain indoors.

Late Pick-up Policy

It is essential that the educator is aware when you arrive and when you pick up your child. All RisingOaks centres close at 6:00 pm. If a parent, or other authorized adult, is unable to pick up the child by 6:00 pm, alternate arrangements must be made in order to ensure children are picked up from the centre prior to the closing time. Late pick up is not permitted. Please be aware of road conditions throughout the day (weather, construction etc.) and plan travel time accordingly.

Families with children picked up after the 6:00 pm closing time are tracked and can expect the
following:
 
  • First Late: A call or email from the supervisor reminding them of the service hours.
  • Second Late: A formal warning letter from the supervisor
  • Third Late: A third late may result in termination of care from the child care program or camp.
Should a child be left in care more than an hour after the program closes, with no communication from the parent or the emergency contacts listed, Family and Children Services will be notified by the educator.

Withdrawing from Service

The following notice periods are required to withdraw from the program, including for families who have pre-enrolled but have not yet started:

  • Infant, Toddler, Preschool programs require notice 20 business days.
  • School-age programs require notice of 10 business days.

Fees are owing for the duration of the notice period.

Upon receiving the termination or withdrawal notice, a review will be conducted on the family account:

  •  If sufficient notice has been provided, the customer deposit – less any outstanding balances, will be refunded.
  • Should insufficient notice be provided, fees for the duration of the notice period will be deducted from the customer deposit, with the balance, if any, being refunded.

Any outstanding accounts will be subject to further collection efforts which can include the involvement of an external collection agency.