Growing Early Childhood Education Sector Leads To Increased Demand For Workers In Saskatchewan

Released on November 30, 2021

Early childhood educators (ECEs) are now in demand, and this demand is expected to grow as Saskatchewan’s early learning and child care sector continues to transform into an affordable, accessible, inclusive and quality system. ECEs play an important role in providing quality early learning programs in licensed child care settings. A career in early childhood education is rewarding and valuable, and ECEs provide an essential service to the community.

Today, the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced that through recent investments in the early learning and child care sector, more employment opportunities will become available for existing qualified ECEs as well as persons interested in becoming qualified ECEs.

“Whether it’s providing training opportunities or a salary increase, the Government of Saskatchewan is doing the work to attract more people to the child care sector in the province,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. “Early childhood education is an important and rewarding career and there is no better place to pursue it than in Saskatchewan.”

These investments will provide residents with the right supports needed to have a meaningful career in early childhood education, while also helping to meet the needs of Saskatchewan’s diverse population and providing an essential service to their community.

This news comes following the Government of Canada’s transformative investment to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in partnership with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners. This includes a historic federal investment of close to $1.1 billion in child care for Saskatchewan. The goal is to bring fees for regulated child care down to $10 per day on average within the next five years. By the end of 2022, the Government of Canada is aiming to reduce average fees for regulated early learning and child care by 50 per cent to make it more affordable for families. The Government of Canada has also provided over $17 million through a one-time investment in 2021-2022 to support the early childhood workforce in Saskatchewan.

“Early childhood educators play a critical role in delivering a high-quality child care system, and as we continue to expand the number of childcare spaces across the country, we must ensure they have the tools and resources they need to succeed,” Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said. “These investments will help grow the economy, support families and a strong and skilled early childhood workforce, and ensure all children have the best start in life.”

Residents who would like to become a qualified ECE will benefit from:

• Accelerated training opportunities through Collège Mathieu, Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies;
• Increased compensation up to $3 per hour depending on ECE certification level; and
• Playing an important role in supporting a child’s emotional, social, physical and intellectual development.

As part of the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the government committed to increasing licensed child care spaces by 28,000 by 2025-26. The government anticipates that more employment opportunities will become available as new spaces are allocated. More information on the space increases will be provided at a later date.

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