News & Stories: Newfoundland & Labrador

Excerpt: "The Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education will be presented to early childhood educators who demonstrate outstanding leadership in the early learning field. Recipients will be chosen based on their contributions to the well-being of children in their care and commitment to fostering high-quality and inclusive early learning environments. The full nomination package and criteria will be released this fall. The announcement was held at St. Matthew’s School, a future site for a pre-kindergarten program. Once operational, the pre-kindergarten program will offer 20 early learning and child care spaces at $10 a day for families in the area. This is one of 25 early learning and child care projects representing 574 child care spaces newly approved for development in the Avalon and Central regions. A total of 1,657 child care spaces have been recently announced and are in development throughout the province."

Excerpt: "The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, today announced details of 15 early learning and child care projects in the western region. Minister Davis was joined by the Honourable Dr. Scott Reid, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation and MHA for St. George’s-Humber, and Terri Clancey, co-owner of Meadow View Childcare. These 15 projects in the Western region represent 345 child care spaces which will all operate at $10-a-day, ensuring that families can access affordable child care."

Excerpt: "The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, today announced the Provincial Government has partnered with the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc. to support, promote and enhance pre-kindergarten programming in Newfoundland and Labrador. This partnership will support ongoing efforts to evolve pre-kindergarten into a universal program for all four-year-olds in the province that is fully integrated into the culture, curriculum and community of the neighbourhood school. Through this partnership, the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc. will work with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to: Evaluate the current pre-kindergarten program; Establish a continuum of professional learning and curriculum development; Incorporate principles of outdoor play into the pre-kindergarten program."

Excerpt: "Today, the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, announced details of 27 early learning and child care projects which are underway or have recently opened in the Avalon region. Minister Davis was joined by Paul Connors, Member of Parliament for Avalon. These projects represent 631 child care spaces which will all operate at $10-a-day, ensuring that families can access affordable child care. The announcement was made at Dream with Us child care centre in Conception Bay South, which recently opened 56 child care spaces at $10-a-day for families in the area. A complete list of the 27 early learning and child care projects is available in the backgrounder below. All projects are now open or set to open in the coming months."

Excerpt: "Work is underway to increase child care for health care professionals, with one child care centre in St. John’s dedicated to providing child care for health care professionals. In addition, there are child care centres in St. John’s, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Wabush that prioritize spaces for health care workers based on need. We have introduced medical benefits to support the professionalization of the early learning workforce. There are also thousands of parents using the Early Learning Gateway, and we are continuously adding features such as a substitute list for early childhood educators that is available to all regulated child care services. We are making great progress increasing affordable early learning and child care spaces. We will continue this work so that all children and families are able to access the early learning and child care services they need while contributing to an inclusive and thriving province."

Excerpt: "The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a review of the certification process for early childhood educators. The RFP is seeking a vendor to evaluate the current certification process for early childhood educators and propose recommendations to shift to a competency-based approach to certification. A high-quality early learning workforce is a key component to ensuring the affordability, inclusivity and quality of early learning and child care programming in Newfoundland and Labrador."

Excerpt: "Further actions to support the early learning workforce and increase access to early learning and child care throughout the province include: Implementation of a medical benefits program for early childhood educators; Provision of a rural and remote allowance for child care centres in eligible regions; Wage grid bonuses for early childhood educators and administrators in Labrador, Francophone early childhood educators, and a further bonus solely for administrators; Streamlined paid closure days and statutory holidays for child care services on the Operating Grant Program; Creation of an Infant Incentive to provide $91 per day, per infant-aged space for child care providers on the Operating Grant Program; and, Continued expansion of pre-kindergarten programming, which is currently available at 34 sites throughout the province with a further 24 sites in development."

Excerpt: "Early childhood educators and other staff working in regulated child care services in the province can now participate in a medical benefits program that is cost shared by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Early Learning and Child Care Medical Benefits Program will be supported by the Association of Early Childhood Educators Newfoundland and Labrador, with coverage provided by Blue Cross via Dougan Insurance Group. Medical benefits are optional and available to individuals who work a minimum of 20 hours per week, and have worked a minimum of three months at a regulated child care service participating in the Operating Grant Program, including: Early childhood educators; Trainee early childhood educators; Other staff working in child care services; Regulated Family Child Care providers."

Excerpt: "When kids eat well, they do better in school. And when kids do well in school, they succeed. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Andrew Furey, today announced an agreement to expand school food programs in the province. This agreement, under the National School Food Program, will result in 4,100 more kids in Newfoundland and Labrador getting healthy meals this school year. Participating families with two kids will save an estimated $800 a year, on average. It will mean lower grocery bills for families and school meals for kids – helping them learn, grow, and get the best start in life. Newfoundland and Labrador is the first province to reach an agreement with the federal government through the new National School Food Program. This initial investment of approximately $9.1 million over three years will help more kids get access to school food. We invite all provinces and territories to reach these agreements – it’s one of the best investments we can make to lower costs, support families, and care for our kids."

Excerpt: "Funding will be provided to child care centres for 15 Quality, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Coordinators to be hired throughout the province. Each coordinator will have a background in psychology, early childhood education, education, or a closely related field. The coordinator will be an employee of a specific child care service and will provide on-site support to improve quality and inclusion within the child care centre. The coordinators will be responsible for supporting early childhood educators to ensure they are responsive to the individual needs of each child."

Excerpt: "Over the course of the three-year plan, Newfoundland and Labrador’s ELCC Action Plan 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 outlines spending of more than $280 million in five areas: Affordability: More than $136 million towards enhancing affordability of regulated child care services for children aged 0–5. These funds help maintain Newfoundland and Labrador’s $10-a-day fee for regulated child care through the Canada-wide ELCC Agreement. Access: Over $43 million towards continuing the creation of 5,895 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026. This will be done through supporting expansion of the Pre-Kindergarten Program and through working with municipalities, not-for-profit and public child care providers to create new regulated child care spaces. Quality: More than $92 million towards ongoing support for the Early Childhood Educator wage grid implemented in April 2023, introducing a medical benefits program for Early Childhood Educators working in regulated child care services that participate in the Operating Grant Program, offering training and bursaries to support educators, and continuing the Quality Enhancement Program. Inclusion: More than $3 million to continue supporting the Child Care Capacity Initiative which provides funding to expand child care services for underserviced communities, including rural communities, linguistic minority communities, and Indigenous communities. Administration: Approximately $8 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting."

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."