On August 13, the governments of Saskatchewan and Canada announced the signing of a $1.1 billion agreement that will help make early learning and child care services more inclusive, accessible and affordable in the province. The agreement will help support the creation of 28,000 new regulated early learning and child care spaces in not-for-profit child care centres, small child care facilities and home-based child care in Saskatchewan. In addition, it will help the province grow a strong and skilled workforce of early childhood educators through the creation of a wage grid and by supporting ECEs with their studies and giving them more professional development opportunities.
Included in the agreement is a commitment to work collaboratively with Saskatchewan First Nations and Métis Nation communities to ensure Indigenous children have access to affordable, high-quality and culturally appropriate child care. The agreement will also help achieve the federal government’s goal of building a Canada-wide, community-based early learning and child care system that provides parents in Saskatchewan with an average of $10 a day regulated child care by the end of 2025-26.
To learn more about Saskatchewan’s new agreement, click here.