In response to current discussions about a universal Canadian childcare system (affordable childcare for "all" families), this article deconstructs the position that childcare occupies in the province of Ontario through the examination, from a historical perspective, of a document that outlines regulations for childcare programs: the Day Nurseries Act. Three discourses are analyzed by tracing them to social and demographic conditions during the early twentieth century: discourses related to the need for medical supervision of children attending childcare centres; discourses that emphasize the relationship between childcare centres and "families in need"; and discourses that refer to the need to follow strict programming and behavioural guidelines.