With the provincial government’s recent announcement of funding for additional child care spaces in facilities, the next challenge is to ensure adequate trained personnel to manage the increased load. For that reason, the Ministry of Education is offering grants to regulated and operating child care centres to assist in their recruitment and retention efforts. The money is made available through the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. 

“Early childhood educators are at the very core of the Canada-wide system we are building with provinces and territories,” said Canada’s Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould. “Today’s announcement in Saskatchewan is another meaningful step in valuing their essential work and providing them with the tools, resources and training they need to succeed.”

The funding would provide for $145 for each designated child care space. The funds cannot be used to set up new facilities, only to entice new workers to come on board or existing ones to remain.

“The Government of Saskatchewan understands that qualified ECEs are an essential part of providing high-quality, affordable child care,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. “This workforce enhancement grant benefits early childhood educators, the centres that employ them, and the families that use child care services.”

A government release notes that existing centres may use the grants for advertising campaigns to recruit certified ECEs, bonuses for staff who complete an ECE certification level, or monetary long-service awards for certified ECEs.

The Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, signed in August 2021, provides a federal investment of nearly $1.1 billion over five years for regulated early learning and child care programs and services for children under the age of six in Saskatchewan. With 50 per cent child care fee reductions already announced in the province, the goal is to bring down average fees for regulated child care to $10-a-day by the end of March 2026.

Locally, training to become an Early Childhood Educator is available through campuses of Carlton Trail College.