News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "There are now several hundred more educational assistants in schools throughout the province, providing important in-class support for thousands of Saskatchewan students. Approximately 200 of these positions are provided by the Government of Saskatchewan's $7 million in targeted funding for school divisions to increase the number of educational assistants for the 2022-23 school year. "Educational assistants are valued support staff that provide significant contributions to student learning," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. "Our government will continue to ensure school divisions have the funding they need to support students, staff and their school communities.""

Excerpt: "The Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada are investing $28.9 million to develop up to 2,197 new child care spaces in regulated child care centres across the province. "Today our government is pleased to announce a significant expansion in regulated child care, which is so important to Saskatchewan families," Minister of Education Dustin Duncan said. "In our growing province, we are providing funding for nearly 2,200 more children to attend regulated child care, which provides high quality early learning, play and exploration environments for our youngest learners." Of the 2,197 newly funded spaces, 1,599 spaces have been allocated to specific organizations who will either build new facilities or add new spaces within their existing facilities. The remaining 598 funded spaces will be allocated to organizations later this year through an application process."

Excerpt: "The Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada announce three new, one-time grants to support regulated early learning and child care centres and homes across the province. The $44 million investment in one-time grants aims to help offset costs incurred from inflation, support preventative maintenance and repairs of centres, and provide funding for outdoor winter play equipment."

Excerpt: "The Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada are pleased to announce that parent fees for regulated child care in the province will be reduced to $10 a day starting April 1, 2023. Saskatchewan is one of the first Canadian provinces to achieve this milestone, which is three years ahead of schedule as outlined in the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to bring down child care fees to $10 day by 2025-26. "The Government of Saskatchewan is committed to investing in affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care that provides children with a positive start in life while also giving parents the flexibility and choice to build both a family and career," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. Parents whose children are under the age of six and attend regulated child care on a full-time basis can expect to pay $217.50 per month. The fee reductions will result in families saving an average of $395 to $573 per month for each child under six from the average comparable fees as of March 31, 2021."

Excerpt: "Families in rural Saskatchewan with young children will have access to further mobile early learning opportunities, thanks to an additional $405,000 investment from the Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada. Funding for KidsFirst Regional programming was $823,500 in 2022-23. This additional investment, recently provided to KidsFirst Regional areas increases the total program funding to $1.2 million. KidsFirst Regional travels to communities across the province bringing unique learning opportunities to children up to age five with programs such as take-home literacy kits, story walks and pop-up preschool events. This increase in funding will allow KidsFirst Regional to reach more children in their own communities with learning initiatives that focus on child development, literacy, nutrition and health and well-being."

Excerpt: "The 2023-24 Budget provides $382.4 million, an increase of $72.1 million or 23.3 per cent over last year for early learning and child care that supports young families in our province. This funding will reduce child care fees for families of children up to the age of six to $10 per day as of April 1, 2023. It will also be used to further increase the number of regulated home-based and centre-based child care spaces in the province, as part of the ongoing goal of ensuring families have access to regulated child care."

Excerpt: "The Alberta Approach to Early Childhood Development aims to change that by improving supports and services so that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our plan is to create connected networks rooted in communities – to build a systematic approach to early childhood development that ensures every Alberta baby, toddler, child, and their family has access to high quality programs and services. Our plan means working together more effectively. The Ministries of Human Services, Health and Education are collaborating with each other and with communities to make this happen."

Excerpt: "To ensure that young children have the supports and opportunities they need to thrive and do well, it helps to know how they are doing and how the environments in which they are being raised are affecting their development both positively or negatively. Having this kind of research data provides evidence for sound policy and decision-making. A number of pilot studies of early development have been conducted in Alberta in the past, but these were limited in size and scope. The ECD Mapping Initiative was the first population-based study of preschool children to encompass the whole province. "

Excerpt: "Proposals were put before this House by the previous government to cut funding to Alberta’s elementary, secondary and post-secondary school systems – even though education is the single most important investment our province can make in the welfare of our children, and the success of our future economy. In this budget, we confirm we are restoring funding to the education and advanced education budgets that were cut by the former government."

Excerpt: "Each new child-care centre will receive up to $500,000 in operating funding in the first year, with the opportunity to receive two more years of funding. The locations of new child-care centres, targeted to where demand is greatest, will be announced early in 2017."

Excerpt: "The newly established Ministry of Children’s Services creates an increased focus on ensuring Alberta’s children are provided with services and supports they need to thrive; Budget 2017 provides stable funding for the child intervention system and provides a solid foundation to strengthen the system; The Alberta Child Benefit provides $174 million in 2017-18 with up to $2,785 each year to Alberta’s most vulnerable families, in support of about 200,000 children; The Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit supports working families with children by providing a maximum annual credit of $773 for families with one child, and up to $2,038 for families with 4 children or more."

Excerpt: "$4.4 million increase in Child Care due to higher than anticipated child care and pre-accredited programs being accredited with the corresponding higher funding rates for staff."