Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Licensed family home centres can receive financial support to reduce parent fees, fund wages and professional development opportunities, and purchase materials, equipment, or supplies. Current unlicensed home child care providers can also receive funding to help cover costs associated with seeking licensing from the province."

Excerpt: "Canada-wide early learning and child care transfer payments are expected to increase from $4.5 billion in 2022-23 to $7.7 billion in 2027-28, and include funding of $625 million over four years, beginning in 2023-24, to Employment and Social Development Canada for an Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund."

Excerpt: "The Wage Support Program for Early Childhood Educators (WSP-ECE) is a wage enhancement program administered by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) to support Operators of Early Learning and Childcare facilities with the recruitment and retention of trained educators. The WSP-ECE aims to: Recognize Early Learning and Childcare as a profession; Encourage educators to participate in higher level training; Provide funding to increase the wages of qualified educators and reduce staff turnover."

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 Annual Report provides an opportunity for residents of the Northwest Territories (NWT) to see the type of support and services delivered through Child and Family Services (CFS) and understand why they are offered. The report identifies trends, including how the Child and Family Services system can improve and where there has been a positive impact on the people served."

Excerpt: "Now more than ever, Nova Scotians need a child-care system that delivers. Children deserve care that gives them the best start in life. Parents deserve care that is affordable regardless of financial means and available where they live and when they work. Nova Scotia deserves childcare that supports our workplaces and our economy. Early childhood educators (ECEs) and operators who nurture and care for our children deserve sustainable funding and support. To meet these needs, our government is transforming child care in Nova Scotia: For families: We have reduced fees to make life more affordable, with a 25 per cent reduction already in place and a further reduction on its way. By the end of this year, families will pay 50 per cent less on average than they did at the start of the year. For communities: We have announced and delivered on the opening of spaces across the province, with 1,500 new child-care spaces coming this winter and new spaces already open in communities like Oxford, Hubbards, Windsor, Lower Sackville, and Lower Onslow, Colchester County."

Excerpt: "The Change Management Grant is a flexible grant that will be available effective immediately and calculated at a rate of $200 per regulated child care space. Child care home and centre providers can use the funds at their discretion to adapt to changes emerging from the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. Among other possibilities, grant money could be used to learn new computer skills, upgrade computer software or hardware or acquire training in administration."

Excerpt: "The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing more than $4 million to reimburse the tuition of early childhood educator students by up to $5,000 per school year to help cover tuition-related costs of recognized programs Terry Duguid, member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, on behalf of federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko and Manitoba Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister Jon Reyes announced today."

Excerpt: "The GNWT will provide funding directly to operators, which will then flow the money to their employees. In the first year, licensed childcare centres will receive $12,750 for every fulltime position that is required under legislation, keeping in mind that some centres have more than the minimum number of required employees. In the second year, the amount increases to $16,250. Childcare centres will be able to decide how they distribute the funds to their employees, so actual pay increases will vary based on the particular centre. This two-year program will bridge a gap until we implement a wage grid in the 2024-2025 fiscal year."

Excerpt: "Parents or guardians of school aged children, who had to find alternate child care because of the extended closure of their child’s school between October 3-7, will get help through the Fiona Child Care Allowance Program. If parents accessed care through a licensed centre, the centre will be paid directly to cover up to $20 per day per child. Parents who accessed private care, such as a babysitter or non-licensed program, can apply for funding at Fiona Child Care Allowance Program. The Province will also cover the parent-fees for all families with children in licensed early learning and child care centres, if the centre was not able to open between October 3-7 due to damages from hurricane Fiona. Parents do not need to apply for this, it will be automatically paid to their centre."

Excerpt: "The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing more than $1 million to support a community-based capital project to create 40 new child-care spaces at a new centre in Oakville, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko announced here today. “Our government is committed to creating high-quality child-care spaces for Manitobans that have limited access to child care, such as Indigenous communities, newcomers and low-income families,” said Ewasko. “I am pleased that our government’s investment will help to develop the first child-care centre in the town of Oakville, a rural community in central Manitoba that currently has the lowest number of licensed child-care spaces in the province.” The new spaces are made possible through funding under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which provides the province with approximately $1.2 billion million over five years to improve access to affordable, high-quality, flexible and inclusive early learning and child-care programs for all children, regardless of where they live."

Excerpt: "The 16 projects, funded through the Early Learning and Child Care Innovation Program, are receiving a total of $27.4 million in federal funding over three years, and will be completed by March 31, 2025. The call for proposals focused on projects that foster cutting-edge practices to support the changing nature of early learning and child care, placing a priority on projects that address the needs of families grappling with the impacts of the pandemic."