News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "The analyses and recommendations laid out in this report set forward ongoing improvements to the Operating Grant Program, and serve to support the initiatives currently underway and/or planned to further improve the child care sector in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Department of Education’s Early Learning and Child Development Division has several initiatives in-flight to improve the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) landscape and have identified a keen willingness to invest considerable time and effort to improve the Operating Grant Program and implement these recommendations."

Excerpt: "The Provincial Government has released a report outlining a review of the Operating Grant Program for child care services in Newfoundland and Labrador. The report includes six opportunity areas for improving the Operating Grant Program, including: Governance; Funding and rates; Program policies, processes and requirements; Accountability; Workforce; and System enablers."

Excerpt: "More people are training for jobs as early childhood educators in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria area thanks to a government-funded Community and Employer Partnership project (CEP). As many as 40 people, most of them immigrant women, have the opportunity to learn new skills or start new careers, benefiting young children, families and communities. “We all want people to have meaningful work to build better lives,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Through this training, people will get in-demand jobs, while local communities will be able to access more child care spaces.” The Province, in partnership with the federal government, is providing $1.2 million to YWCA Metro Vancouver to deliver its program, Discover, in three cohorts, training people to become early childhood educators. The second and third cohorts of the program are underway in Vancouver and Victoria, with 15 participants each. The first group completed the course in September 2023."

Excerpt: "Beginning January 1, 2024, child care fees across Prince Edward Island will drop to $10-a-day for all Island children attending Early Years Centres (EYCs) and licensed Family Home Centres (FHCs). Under the Canada-Prince Edward Island Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island committed to bringing the average fees for regulated child care to $10-a-day per child. To ensure affordability and equity across the province, PEI will be exceeding this commitment by investing additional dollars to make $10-a-day the standard child care fee at all EYCs and licensed FHCs in the province, and achieve this milestone ahead of the national target. Provincial subsidy and support programs will continue, covering fees for many Island families."

Excerpt: "ECEs working in provincially licensed and funded child-care centres and family home agencies will receive hourly wage increases ranging from about $3.14 to $4.24. All employees will be included in a comprehensive group benefits and pension plan. The wage increase will be for ECEs – including those working as inclusion co-ordinators – assistant directors, directors and family home consultants. Based on education and experience, wages range from $22.91 to $28.78 per hour for ECEs Level 1, 2 and 3, and up to $34.54 for ECEs in leadership roles. Group benefits will be provided by the non-profit Health Association Nova Scotia and a modern defined-benefit pension through CAAT Pension Plan, also a non-profit."

Excerpt: "Under the Minor Infrastructure Program, existing or new licensed not-for-profit child-care providers can receive up to $250,000 for minor renovations that will increase child-care spaces, and up to another $25,000 for administrative expenses. The Family Home Start-Up Program will provide up to $7,500 to help people open a regulated site. Startup costs may include minor home improvements or purchasing materials and supplies to meet regulations and create quality early learning and child-care environments for children. These initiatives are part of the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which supports the child-care system so all families have access to affordable, high-quality and inclusive care when and where they need it."

Excerpt: "To build and maintain this system, we need qualified and well-supported educators, as they are the cornerstone of the child care system. The federal government remains committed to working with provincial and territorial governments to support the recruitment, retention and recognition of this essential workforce."

Excerpt: "Early childhood educators are vital to support the growth and development of children within the province. The Department of Education remains engaged with early childhood educators through regular virtual town hall meetings. The Provincial Government continues to invest heavily in domestic recruitment and retention initiatives, including: Additional funding to post-secondary institutions to ensure early childhood education programs are more accessible and to increase the number of graduates; A needs-based grant to provide eligible students in approved program with non-repayable grants of up to $10,000; Creation of a bursary and wage grid bonus specific to Francophone early childhood educators; The Early Childhood Educator Recruitment and Retention Grant. to provide eligible early childhood educators with $2,500 upon initial certification and renewal of Level 1-4 certification, up to a maximum of $7,500; Implementation of a wage grid for early childhood educators in April 2023 to recognize the valuable contribution they make in supporting the children of the province."

Excerpt: "Other measures, including the federal government’s new Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care, are also helping to make life more affordable for Canadians today (Chart 7). Already, six provinces and territories—Québec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, and Nunavut—have delivered $10-a-day or less regulated child care, and the remaining provinces and territories have reduced fees by at least 50 per cent and are on track to reaching fees of an average of $10-a-day by March 2026. These investments have also supported Québec to further improve its existing child care system through the creation of new spaces. Provincial estimates across Canada place annual per-child savings from between $2,000 (P.E.I.) to $14,300 (Nunavut), making life more affordable for families and supporting the achievement of a record 85.7 per cent labour force participation rate for Canadian women in their prime working years."

Excerpt: "We will work with the childcare sector to retain and recruit early childhood educators and create new, high-quality childcare spaces at workplaces and community hubs like the Park Community Centre in Brandon."

Excerpt: "High quality early learning and child care environments support improved outcomes for Yukon children, which is key for later success in school and life. The Government of Yukon is working to update the Child Care Act, which came into force on July 1, 1990. Changes to this legislation will consider the key principles of quality, affordability, inclusivity and accessibility. The public engagement process will begin next week. Over the following two months, meetings will be held with partner and stakeholder groups including Yukon First Nations governments, early learning educators, non-profit groups and operators of family day homes and child care centres. The public will be able to complete a short survey online and provide more detailed feedback about the topics most important to them."

Excerpt: "As of April 1st, the average cost of licensed child care for children five years of age and younger was reduced, on average, by 60 per cent. This means that families in the NWT are now saving up to $545 a month per child in child care fees. Families can expect to see further cost reductions until we reach our goal of an average of $10 per day child care."