This article was updated: July 20th, 2026

Choosing a daycare is one of the most important decisions a parent can make for their child. Every day, parents entrust daycare providers with the care and safety of their children, expecting them to learn, play, and thrive in a secure and nurturing environment, parallel to the care they receive at home. While minor bumps and scrapes are inevitable, and boo-boos are bound to happen, children should never suffer preventable injuries because a daycare has failed to provide appropriate care or supervision.

Unfortunately, daycare negligence is an all too real reality that some families find themselves navigating. When daycare providers fail to meet their basic duties of care, children can suffer injuries ranging from cuts and bruises, fractures, to more serious or even life-threatening injuries or harm. These incidents can have long lasting physical, emotions, and financial consequences for both the child and their family. 

If you believe your child was injured because of daycare negligence in Atlantic Canada, you may have the right to pursue a compensation claim through legal action against those responsible. Depending on the circumstances, compensation may help cover medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and income you have lost while caring for your injured child. 

Pursuing a claim is about more than financial recovery for those involved, however. By holding daycare providers accountable for negligent conduct, we can encourage high safety standards to be implemented and followed, promote better practices, and help reduce the risk of similar incidents affecting other children in the future. 

What is Daycare Negligence?

Negligence is a legal concept that arises when a person fails to exercise the level of care that would be reasonably expected by a professional in a similar situation or setting, resulting in injury or harm to another person. 

In a daycare setting, negligence may occur when a daycare provider fails to take the reasonable steps to ensure the protection of the health, safety, and well-being of the children in their care. This may include inadequate supervision, an unsafe daycare environment, or failing to respond appropriately to preventable and foreseeable risks to health or safety. 

Whether operating a licensed daycare centre or providing childcare in another setting, caregivers have a legal duty to provide a safe daycare environment with appropriate supervision. When a daycare or caregiver has failed to meet this duty of care and a child is injured as a result, they can be held legally responsible for the harm caused through negligence. 

Examples of Negligence in a Daycare

A daycare may be negligent if a child is injured as a result of:

  • Poor or inadequate supervision leading to a fall or other play injury. 
  • Unsafe equipment or daycare facilities.
  • Choking indents occurring as a result of improper supervision.
  • Animal attacks.
  • Burns from hot foods or liquids. 
  • Failure to prevent a child from leaving the premises. 
  • Transportation accidents involving daycare vehicles. 
  • Failure to ensure a child leaves the daycare with an approved parent or guardian.
  • Abuse or neglect by staff. 
  • Failure to follow allergy or medical care plans for a child. 

Looking more closely at some of the above examples, we can better understand how these situations may be examples of daycare negligence, for example:

Inadequate supervision

As any parent or guardian can attest, young children require constant supervision to keep them safe. When caregivers fail to appropriately monitor children, preventable accidents can occur, resulting in falls, playground injuries, choking incidents, burns and cuts, or children wandering away from the daycare. Any of these tragic and easily preventable incidents can occur due to inadequate supervision. The level of appropriate supervision required will depend on the child’s age, abilities, and the activities taking place, and will need to be taken into account. 

Unsafe daycare facilities

Daycare providers are responsible for maintaining a safe environment for the children placed in their care. This includes regularly inspecting and maintaining all playground equipment to set safety standards, keeping floors free of hazards, safely storing all cleaning products or other toxic chemicals, securing sharp or unsafe objects, and ensuring the facility is clean and safe for children. Failing to address known hazards can place children in the daycare’s care at an unnecessary risk of injury, and can be deemed as negligence in a court of law. 

Neglecting medical needs

For children with medical needs such as allergies, asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy, having a caregiver able to provide the necessary care can be vital in an emergency. Caregivers must follow medical care plans, provide children with their medication when required, and respond quickly and appropriately in case of medical emergencies. Failing to recognize or respond to a child’s medical needs can have serious, and in some cases even life-threatening consequences. 

Abuse and neglect

Every child has the right to be treated with care, dignity, and respect. Physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse by daycare staff may contitue serious negligence, and may in some cases criminal conduct. This also encompasses the failure to protect a child from abuse by another child or caregiver. Neglect, including failing to provide appropriate food, hygiene, levels of comfort, or supervision, can have lasting physical and emotional impacts on children. 

Causes of Daycare Negligence 

Daycare negligence can stem from many causes, or be the result of a variety of reasons. Most often, however, it is the result of a failure to follow proper safety procedures, or provide an appropriate standard of care for a child’s specific needs. Common causes of daycare negligence to be aware of include:

  • Inadequate training, resulting in caregivers who are not trained properly or adequately, and maybe not be able to appropriately recognize hazards, respond to emergencies, administer medication, or even supervise children safely. 
  • Understaffing, resulting in too few caregivers having to monitor too many children, significantly increasing the risk of accidents or injuries occurring. 
  • Poor hiring oversight, skipping stips such as conducting a thorough background check, verifying qualifications, or properly screening employees can place children at serious risk. 
  • Lack of supervision, due to inappropriate caregiver-to-child ratios. Caregivers who become distracted, leave children unattended, or fail to monitor all play areas may be responsible for easily preventable injuries. 
  • Safety policies, that caregivers either do not maintain or are not strong enough to ensure all children’s safety in the daycare setting. This includes procedures around playground supervision, food safety, transportation, emergency evacuations, and child pick-up protocol. Ignoring or failing to enforce these policies to an appropriate level can lead to a serious incident and present unnecessary risks. 
  • Poor communication, especially between staff members, could lead to easily avoidable incidents around allergies or known medical conditions, dietary restrictions, or authorized pick-up arrangements. 
  • Failure to address known risks, such as addressing aggressive behaviour between children, defective or broken equipment or toys, or removing any foreseeable or reasonable hazards prior to injury occurring.

Can I Sue My Daycare for Negligence

When a child is injured because of daycare negligence, the victim’s family may have the right to pursue legal action against those responsible. If a daycare provider has failed to meet the standards required of them to care for that child, resulting in injury to that child, the daycare may be held legally liable for the harm. 

Depending on the circumstances, compensation may be available for damages incurred, such as medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, future care needs, pain and suffering, and even in some cases may be damages collected for income lost by a parent who had to take time away from work to care for their injured child. 

In addition to potential civil liability, daycare providers are required to comply with all provincial licensing requirements and childcare regulations. A failure to meet these standards of practice may result in regulatory investigations, fines, license suspensions, or the revocation of a daycare’s operating license. In cases of severe negligence, such as cases involving abuse or criminal neglect, individuals held responsible may also face criminal charges. 

Filing a Claim Against a Daycare for Negligence

To succeed in a negligence claim against a daycare, you will generally need to establish four main elements:

  • The daycare owed a duty of care
    Daycares have a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to protect all children in their care, for the duration of time in which they are in the daycare’s care. 
  • The daycare breached that duty of care
    The daycare failed to act in a reasonable manner during a situation that another daycare would have acted in a more careful manner. This may include examples such as:
  • Inadequate supervision or inappropriate child to adult ratio.
  • Failing to follow all safety policies
  • Allowing hazardous or unsafe conditions to exist in the daycare setting.
  • Hiring and maintaining staff that are unqualified or underqualified.
  • Failing to administer medication when appropriate, or respond to a medical emergency in the correct and timely manner (if applicable)
  • Ignoring known risks or behavioural concerns, such as biting or aggressive behaviour by another child.
  • The breach of care directly caused that injury
    You must be able to demonstrate how the daycare’s negligence directly caused or contributed to your child’s injuries. 
  • The child suffered damages as a result of injuries
    Physical injuries, psychological harm, medical expenses, future care costs, and in some cases lost income for a caregiver were incurred as a result of the daycares negligent actions. 

How is Daycare Negligence Established?

Not every injury that occurs at a daycare is the result of negligence. Young children are active, and play can often result in minor accidents happening, even when appropriate care and supervision are provided. The key legal consideration in cases of negligence is whether the child’s injury resulted as a direct result of the daycare provider’s failure to exercise reasonable care, or whether the accident could have still occurred had the situation had alternative supervision present. 

When assessing a daycare negligence claim, courts will consider whether the daycare provider met the standard of care expected in the given circumstances, and does not require acts of heroism in extreme cases. This asks whether a reasonably careful parent, also faced with the same situation, would have acted in a similar manner. 

For example, the court may consider whether the daycare provided adequate supervision, responded appropriately to a known risk, maintained a safe daycare environment, and followed all applicable safety policies and procedures. If a reasonably careful parent would have taken additional or obvious steps to prevent injury from occurring, the daycare provider may be found to have breached their duty of care and therefore may be found to have acted negligently. 

Ultimately, every case of daycare negligence will come down to the facts of the specific event. The child’s age, the activities taking place, level of supervision (appropriate child to adult ratio), how predictable the accident may have been given the circumstances, and the steps that the daycare took to prevent harm; these are all factors that may be considered and included when determining if negligence has occurred in a daycare. 

Important Considerations

If your child was injured while attending a daycare in Atlantic Canada, asking the following questions may help you to determine whether the daycare provider(s) failed to meet the required standard of care. 

  • Was there an appropriate staff-to-child ratio?
    Were enough qualified caregivers present to adequately supervise the number of children present?
  • Was the equipment and environment safe?
    Was the playground equipment being properly maintained, age-appropriate, and free from obvious hazards or dangers?
  • Were reasonable safety policies and procedures in place?
    Did the daycare take appropriate steps to identify and reduce foreseeable risks or dangers to the children?
  • Was my child adequately supervised?
    Were staff actively monitoring the children during play, meals, and naps, or were they being left unattended or undersupervised?
  • Were children given appropriate instruction and guidance?
    Did caregivers provide children with clear, age appropriate directions, and intervene when necessary to prevent unsafe or dangerous behaviour. 
  • Did staff respond quickly and appropriately after the incident?
    Was appropriate first aid provided when needed, emergency procedures in place and followed, and were parents promptly notified of the incident?

Answering “no” to one or more of these questions doesn’t necessarily mean that the daycare acted with negligence. However, it may indicate that the daycare failed to provide a level of care that could or should have reasonably been expected, and may warrant further investigation of the daycare. 

Preventing Daycare Negligence

Tips for Parents and Providers

While not every accident could have been prevented, many daycare injuries can be avoided when appropriate care and due diligence is taken. When parents and daycare workers are able to collaboratively prioritize the health of all children in their care, we can reduce avoidable injuries to our children. 

For Parents

Choosing a daycare is an important decision. Before enrolling your child, consider taking the following steps:

    • Visit the facility in person to assess its cleanliness, safety, and overall environment. 
  • Ask about staff qualifications and training, including first aid certification (and expiration dates), emergency preparedness training, and direct experience or training caring for children of your child’s specific age (or needs if applicable). 
  • Review the daycare’s policies on supervision, illness, medication administration, emergency procedures, and indecent reporting. 
  • Maintain open communication with caregivers, and encourage your child to talk about their daily experiences. Particularly taking note if they are old enough to express concerns or doubt. 

For Daycare Providers

Daycare operators have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide a safe environment for every child in their care, for the entire duration of time they are responsible for their care. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Providing ongoing training to staff in areas of child supervision, first aid, emergency response management, and child development. 
  • Maintaining appropriate staff-to-child ratios at all times. 
  • Regularly inspecting indoor and outdoor play areas, and promptly repairing or removing any areas of safety concern or obvious hazardous risk. 
  • Developing and consistently following clear health and safety policies, including procedures for supervision, medication administration, emergency response, and reporting incidents. 
  • Keeping open lines of communication with parents regarding their child’s wellbeing, injuries, illnesses, or behavioural concerns. 

Was Your Child Injured at Daycare? NOVA Injury Law Can Help

A serious injury at daycare can be overwhelming for both children and their families. If you believe that your child’s injuries at daycare were caused by negligent supervision, unsafe daycare conditions, or another failure to provide reasonable care, you may have legal options available. 

At NOVA Injury Law, we help families understand their rights and investigate whether daycare negligence contributed to your child’s injuries. If appropriate, we can assist you in pursuing compensation for losses such as medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, future care needs, pain and suffering, and other legal damages. 

Have questions about a potential daycare negligence claim? Contact NOVA Injury law to schedule your free case consultation. We can review the circumstances of your case, explain your legal options, and help you make informed decisions about the best next steps for you child and your family.