Federal, Sask. governments giving raises to Early Childhood Educators

Early Childhood Educators in Saskatchewan are getting a raise.

The governments of Saskatchewan and Canada announced Thursday an investment of $5.4 million to give those educators an increase of up to $2 per hour.

The funding comes through the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which also offers future ECEs free post-secondary training, professional development opportunities and many other programs.

“Early Childhood Educators provide our youngest learners with quality early learning and the building blocks they need to prepare them for school,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said in a release.

“This investment helps recognize the hard work these professionals do every day while creating an incentive for new individuals to begin a career as a certified Early Childhood Educator.”

The governments noted the wage increase is a step toward the development of a wage grid for ECEs, which the provincial government is to implement by the end of 2022-23.

The Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement saw the federal government invest nearly $1.1 billion in child-care facilities over five years. Child-care fees have dropped by an average of 70 per cent already in the province, with a goal of getting average fees down to $10 a day by the end of March 2026.