The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recently published an analysis report titled Not Done Yet: $10-a-day childcare requires addressing Canada's child care deserts which reports "Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of children living in child care deserts by far: 85,500 younger children live in a postal code where there are more than three children per licensed space. This means that many more children are living in child care deserts in Saskatchewan than Quebec, even though Quebec has four times the child population".
The current Saskatchewan government has promised to create an additional 28,000 spaces in addition to the 23,000 funded spaces by March 2026. Additional ECE training programs have been implemented and recently, the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Association has been tasked with an ECE recruitment project designed to attract more people to the sector. At minimum, Saskatchewan will need at least 2800 new ECE's entering the field to properly staff these new spaces. Additional staffing such as administration and nutrition specialists will only increase the number of new recruits needed. New recruits want answers as to what their working conditions will be like before they enter the field, not after - the wage grid for ECE's needs to be released sooner rather than later in order to retain current employees and bring in new ones.
In order to build spaces, approved operators are receiving grants of $10000.00 per space to assist in construction or renovation costs. However, these costs are astronomical and the grants do not cover even 50% of the estimates being provided to some of our members who are looking to expand. Until all levels of government work with each other to provide feasible expansion opportunities to operators looking to open these spaces, the lofty goal of doubling the number of licenced child care spaces within the next three years will be challenging, if not impossible. Operators can not be expected to fundraise on top of their full time jobs in order to bring the promise of new spaces into the realm of reality.
The Saskatchewan Federation of Early Learning will continue to work with our members in providing support and in raising awareness of the challenges our members and the sector is facing while we wait for updated funding agreements from the province. To read more from the CCPA's report please head to their website.
Lindsey Robinet
SFEL Executive - Member at Large
The Saskatchewan Early Learning Leaders Caucus has developed a document outlining recommendations for the Saskatchewan government to follow in the development of a workforce strategy that works for our province, educators, children and families. Our thanks to Anita Burkell, past chair of the SFEL, for sitting on this sub committee of the Canadian Child Care Federation.
Join the SFEL for our retreat being held May 11-12th 2023 at Dakota Dunes Resort!
For more information and to register please head to Director's Retreat 2023 - SF Early Learning
Saskatchewan families in rural communities face many obstacles in finding childcare that fits their needs. Urban or rural - all children have the right to experience quality early childhood education opportunities in their own community. The lack of rural spaces is a pressing concern for many families in rural Saskatchewan. Vanscoy & District Early Learning Centres is meeting the challenge to serve rural families with two locations (Delisle and Vanscoy) with a third opening later this year. Thank you VELC for all of your efforts in providing local childcare and employment in rural Saskatchewan and for always being a voice for rural providers.
Registration and presenter details TBA
Saskatoon Open Door Society https://www.sods.sk.ca/
The Saskatchewan Federation of Early Learning is pleased to announce HBI Office Plus is offering our members perks including free shipping, discounts on purchases and biannual rebates on purchases. Members can find more information on our member perks in the member resource section (login required). For more information on HBI please visit their website
Find links to articles with opinions and interviews with our members
The Saskatchewan Federation of Early Learning joins the call to action to address this incredibly important issue to our members. We know that:
"Burnout among frontline staff working with children and youth has increased during COVID-19. This
policy brief surfaces emerging areas of concern for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and Child and
Youth Workers during the pandemic. We explore these challenges through an intersectional approach,
including gender, race, and socioeconomic considerations. The brief puts forward areas requiring further
research and exploration on how to better support the mental health of front line workers – particularly
those experiencing marginalization. In addition, it includes recommendations for how each level of
government can best support the mental health of these populations to reduce burnout, foster good
mental health, and avoid further mental health issues. This is particularly relevant now as the federal,
provincial, and territorial governments look to implement the national child care program."
To view the report download below or click here
Authored by BGC Canada, Canadian Child Care Federation, Canadian Mental Health Association and YWCA Canada.
Early Childhood Educators are what makes the world go round, or so they say! Every May we celebrate early childhood education and the many professionals who make it happen. This is our small way of saying thank you, every day, for all they do for the children and families in Saskatchewan!
