OTTAWA - Ontario municipal leaders will be lobbying the federal government this week to maintain funding for child care spaces.

It's expected to be one of the big issues at this week's annual conference of Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

Association president Peter Hume says mayors and councillors attending the gathering in Ottawa will be calling for the federal government and Queen's Park to "step up to the plate" in funding social programs.

Hume says municipalities are concerned that Ottawa is about to abandon a commitment to child care spaces that amounts to $63 million for Ontario communities.

He says communities rely on those childcare spaces as part of their "economic equation."

He says it's something that shouldn't be fooled with.

Premier Dalton McGuinty is due to address the convention tomorrow.