News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "The Province is investing more in the child-care system that thousands of Nova Scotia families rely on to care for their young children. Child-care operators will receive more funding for infant spaces, rising operational costs and staff wages under new annual agreements with the Province. “It’s important that young children have the best start, and Nova Scotia’s child-care operators are doing their best to provide quality care while also facing rising operating costs,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan. “This agreement increases funding for the year and follows the recent three per cent wage boost for early childhood educators as part of our promise made last fall for regular public sector wage increases.”"

Excerpt: "To continue to make early learning and child care accessible, affordable, and inclusive for all families, in 2023-24 EECD will: Continue to take steps to implement the Canada – Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement by developing a 2023-2026 Action Plan and outlining the approach to move toward a $10 a day on average child care by 2025-2026; Develop a space expansion strategy to inform the next stage of growth within the sector; Evaluate and expand the Quality Matters initiative, with a plan for full rollout across the sector, including family home child care and before-and-after care, by 2025-2026; Release the revised Early Learning Curriculum Framework and Educators’ Guide in English and French in fall 2023; Continue to develop and transition to a certification model for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs); Fully roll-out the Advanced Practitioners’ Program; a post-diploma certificate program to advance ECE knowledge and competence in a specialized area of practice, such as infants and toddlers, young children, outdoor play, or pedagogical leadership; Extend professional development opportunities currently being provided through EECD and support sites to family home child care providers; Launch the first in-person French-language ECE diploma program through Université Sainte Anne; Work with the sector to establish a standardized level of health benefits and retirement benefits for ECEs in 2023."

Excerpt: "Families in the Halifax region are starting to benefit from about 500 new and planned child-care spaces thanks to provincial and federal funding. New infant spaces have opened at the East Preston Childcare Centre, and new infant, toddler and preschool spaces were recently added at the Cunard Street Children’s Centre and the Edward Jost Children’s Centre in Spryfield. Several more expansions are planned for the coming months."

Excerpt: "Families looking for child care in northern Nova Scotia will see more than 300 new spaces in licensed centres and family homes thanks to provincial and federal funding. They are part of the 1,500 new, licensed child-care spaces the Province plans to create across Nova Scotia. “Nova Scotian children deserve a quality early childhood education, and families deserve access to affordable and reliable child care,” said Premier Tim Houston. “We are committed to transforming the delivery of child care in our province so more families can benefit.” The YMCA of Pictou County is completing renovations to a new child-care centre that is scheduled to open this fall with room for about 50 infants, toddlers and preschoolers."

The State of Our Children and Youth report and The Right to Identity, Culture and Language: A Child's Path to Development (A Statistical Background Report to the Child and Youth Advocate's 3rd Annual State of our Children and Youth Address) released.

Ministerial Advisory Committee on Early Learning and Childcare announced. The committee will provide advice on implementing the government’s Early Learning and Childcare Plan under four key principles of accessibility; affordability; inclusiveness; and quality early learning and child care. The committee will also facilitate communication between the department and early learning and child care centres, parents, schools and community partners.

Budget announced $1.4 million to fund an increased number of early learning and child care spaces and an additional $800,000 for the Daycare Assistance Program (child care fee subsidy).

On January 11, 2012, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development announced a plan "to reorganize school districts; increase parents’ involvement on district education councils; and to pay chairs and members of these councils."

Excerpt: "Amendments have been proposed to the unproclaimed Early Learning and Childcare Act to establish a single piece of legislation called the Early Childhood Services Act. The new act would combine all early childhood programs and services such as preschool autism intervention, prenatal support, early learning and childcare, and early intervention.... Changes to the section of the act detailing curriculum frameworks are proposed so that licensed childcare facilities use only one of the two frameworks provided by the department."

The provincial government has released a three-year, $38-million action plan, Putting Children First, that will integrate early childhood services into the school system.

The provincial government has "re-instated the wage enhancement of $2.75 per hour for early learning and childcare staff. The initiative supports the pay equity measures for early learning and childcare staff".

The Premier of New Brunswick provided a progress report on its three-year action plan, Putting Children First: Positioning Early Childhood for the Future, unveiled last spring. Included in the plan are integrating early childhood and education services, realigning the boundaries for local early childhood services with school district boundaries and extending the definition of early childhood up to children 8-years-old.