News & Stories: Newfoundland & Labrador

Excerpt: "The Early Childhood Infrastructure Fund now has three distinct funding streams: the Major Projects Fund, the Minor Projects Fund, and the Developmental (Needs Assessment) Projects Fund. The new funding streams simplify the Early Childhood Infrastructure Fund application process and help create new licensed early learning and child care spaces. Funding priority will be given to communities with limited or non-existent early learning and child care programming."

Excerpt: "In our short six months since forming government, we have added over 200 child care spaces. Budget 2026 includes more than $33 million to support child care spaces, including the establishment of approximately 1,200 spaces which are now in progress and the creation of an additional 400 child care spaces. And I am proud to say that we are committed to continuing $10 a day child care. All children deserve the support they need to thrive right from the start. That’s why we’re investing more than $3.6 million to increase inclusion supports in child care services across the province. As soon as our children enter the classroom, we need to do more to ensure that they have the supports they need. As a retired educator myself, this is something I am passionate about. Teachers are vital to this work, as are student assistants. That is why Budget 2026 includes almost $625 million for educators and teaching and learning assistants. That’s a $28.9 million increase. This increased funding will support the addition of 94 teachers and 20 teaching and learning assistants to the system."

Excerpt: "$10-a-day child care will continue into the 2026-27 fiscal year. To ensure this is successful the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will develop a steering committee that will make recommendations regarding changes and benefit improvements for early childhood educators. These changes will help to recruit more educators to work in child care and retain those already in the workforce. The Early Childhood Educator Steering Committee requested by the sector will include representative groups of educators from across the province and the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Newfoundland and Labrador. It will inform changes to the wage grid and workforce policies and help develop an implementation plan for benefits. This work will also help identify current workforce challenges and propose potential solutions."

Excerpt: "The Operating Grant Program (OGP) for child care centres is a key component of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The intent of the OGP is to improve affordability and accessibility of quality child care for families with young children throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Participation by licensed child care centres is voluntary and includes a set daily rate for parent/guardian fees. All regulated child care centres in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador are eligible to apply for the operating grant. This includes both commercial and not-for-profit community-based centres committed to ongoing quality, inclusion, accessibility, and affordability. Centres must comply with the Child Care Act, regulations, and policies, including the Operating Grant Program Policy for Child Care Centres."

Excerpt: "Lil Snowflakes child care centre recently added 55 new early learning and child care spaces, for a total of 86 spaces at the centre. Further to the expansion of Lil Snowflakes, there are five early learning and child care projects in development in Labrador. These five projects will result in 68 new child care spaces, which will all operate at $10-a-day, helping to ensure that families in Labrador can access affordable child care. The projects are supported through the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement."

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."