Latest News & Stories

Excerpt: "Knowing Our Numbers (KON) is a comprehensive, province-wide study involving the College of Early Childhood Educators and 43 out of 47 children’s service system managers in Ontario. Almost 6,000 educators responded to surveys targeted to RECEs, non-RECEs, program directors, and home child care providers. The data were supplemented by regional focus groups, service system analysis, and related demographic and labour force information. The sector is far from monolithic—it is impacted by differences in geography and organizational structure. As is the norm for studies of this type, respondents are likely to be RECEs and more vested. When their answers are put in the context of the other data, they reveal a workforce under stress and ill-supported to meet the demands placed on it. "

e-News

Excerpt: "The Manitoba government has made amendments to the Child Care Regulation to increase the operating grants for all licensed and provincially funded early learning and child-care facilities, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds and Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare announced today. The amendments brought into force a 2.75 per cent increase to the wage grid supplement provided to facilities, effective July 1, and a five percent increase to the base operating grants, retroactively effective April 1."

Description: "The Government of Canada is committed to working with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to create a Canada-wide system of high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care (ELCC) that all families can access no matter where they live. To help inform continued progress, the Department of Employment and Social Development is seeking input on what the Canada-wide ELCC system and its commitment to provide child care for $10-a-day, on average, means to you. The purpose of this discussion guide is to provide you with a general update on the implementation of the Canada-wide ELCC system and to provide a framework to help us better understand your experiences with the system. Your views on the key challenges and successes to date are essential to support future and ongoing work. This guide is designed to be an open-ended tool that invites respondents to consider both universal and more targeted questions, as appropriate. This tool was designed with the understanding that all respondents will have different experiences with the Canada-wide ELCC system, and that their unique realities will shape their response. While significant progress has been made, more work needs to be done to ensure the Canada-wide ELCC system is able to deliver high-quality, affordable, accessible, flexible and inclusive ELCC for all families. Respondents are invited to respond to whichever questions most align with their priorities, challenges, and experiences."

Susan He is a doctoral candidate in higher education. She is currently an intern at Western Michigan University through LHA1858H.

Electronic newsletter

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is doubling investments to a historic $1.3 billion to support the building of new state-of-the-art schools, as well as school expansions and renovations across the province. This funding for infrastructure projects, the largest-ever one-year allocation through the Capital Priorities Program, will lead to the creation of more than 27,000 new student spaces and more than 1,700 child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Today, applications are being accepted for the new Working Opportunities Program. Funded through a $3.5 million provincial investment in Budget 2024, the Working Opportunities Program will enable individuals who are not eligible for the federally funded Skills Development Program to avail of similar financial supports for training. Working Opportunities enables non-EI eligible individuals with barriers to workforce participation and post-secondary education to retrain and upskill, creating more stable employment and improving their well-being. This program will also help address shortages in the workforce. The program will support people eligible to attend post-secondary schooling that will lead to employment, including funding for a living allowance, child care and costs of training. Participants will attend full-time post-secondary programs that are a minimum of 12 weeks and a maximum of three years in duration at a public or private training institution in Newfoundland and Labrador."

The studies presented represent the feedback of almost 6,000 members of the early childhood education workforce in Ontario. They gave their time and knowledge to share with great passion their perspectives on the state of their profession, and the implications for themselves and the children in their care. Their voices must be heard, and their advice acted on if Ontario families are to fully experience the benefits of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system now under development.

Behind the workforce are the children’s service managers in regional governments and the College of Early Childhood Educators who came together to help conduct these studies. They saw the need for a province-wide collection system with a local lens to inform decision makers, to build cross jurisdictional understandings and to share best practices.

Best Practices in ECE Development: In this series, early childhood officials from various provinces shared promising initiatives aimed at supporting the early childhood education workforce and expanding access to child care.

PEI’s ELCC Workforce Pension Plan
Sonya Hooper, Assistant Deputy Minister Early Years
Jennifer Nangreaves, Executive Director, Early Childhood Development Association Of PEI

An overview of the PEI’s unique pension plan instituted for the early childhood education workforce.