Early learning centres in Saskatchewan are struggling with understaffing and growing waitlists, making it difficult for parents to access quality childcare. Megan Schmidt, director of First Years Learning Centre, has seen waitlists of two to three years and her centre currently has a waitlist of 2,100 kids. The lack of accessible childcare is a major issue in the province, with many parents struggling to find a spot for their children in these centres. The move to offer more affordable childcare was introduced out of order, with no consideration for where these children would actually go.
In 2023, Saskatchewan introduced $10 a day childcare in an effort to make childcare more affordable for families. This was followed by an announcement in May 2024 that Saskatchewan would receive $27.7 million in funding from the federal government’s Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund to add more childcare spaces in the province. While these initiatives are a step in the right direction, there are still challenges when it comes to supporting students with special needs in childcare centres. Frontline Early Childhood Educator (ECE) worker Alexandra Jeannot is frustrated with the lack of support and believes that introducing a wage grid for ECE workers would help with retention and support for children with diverse needs.
The Ministry of Education has allocated $380 million to the Early Childhood Educators industry in the 2024 budget, with plans to build more centres and focus on recruiting and retaining more ECE workers. Sameena Haque, the Ministry of Education assistant deputy minister, stated that they have provided workforce enhancement grants to operators over the last three years to support employment contracts and workers within childcare operations. The ministry has also created a baseline quality assessment committee that will visit all the centres in the province to collect data on how the industry is operating, with the goal of identifying and addressing any gaps in the system.
Despite these efforts, accessibility to quality childcare remains a significant challenge in Saskatchewan. With waitlists of up to two to three years and a shortage of ECE workers, many parents are struggling to find a spot for their children in early learning centres. While initiatives such as $10 a day childcare and funding from the federal government’s Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund are helping to address these issues, more support is needed for ECE workers and children with special needs in these centres. The Ministry of Education is working on recruiting and retaining more ECE workers and collecting data to identify and address gaps in the system, but there is still more work to be done to ensure that all families have access to quality childcare in the province.
