The governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced that $10-a-day child care will be available in the province come April 1.
“The Government of Saskatchewan is committed to investing in affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care that provides children with a positive start in life while also giving parents the flexibility and choice to build both a family and career,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said.
The province says parents who have children under the age of six who attend regulated child care full-time will pay $217.50 a month.
It added that families will be saving an average of $395 to $573 per month compared to current fees.
“Today is a major achievement for families in Saskatchewan,” said Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.
“By working together, Canada and Saskatchewan have achieved our shared goal of affordable child care three years ahead of schedule. We are continuing to focus on achieving other important targets through the Canada-wide system, such as space creation and support to early childhood educators, to ensure that every family has access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care.”
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This agreement comes with almost $1.1 billion in federal funding over five years for regulated early learning and child-care programs and services.
As of the end of 2022, there are 19,790 total regulated child-care spaces across 144 communities in Saskatchewan.
The province will also be offering funding for free training and education to bring in more early childhood educators, up to $5 per hour wage enhancements, and grants for regulated facilities.
Julie Wermie is a Regina mother of four who says the $10-a-day child care is impacting her family greatly, noting that the cost of living has been rising.
“It’s going to impact both of our little ones and help in the long run,” Wermie said.
She said they can do more things as a family now.
Wermie added that they were on a waitlist for the YMCA for well over a year, starting in 2012. She said they were able to get their other kids in because one had already been admitted.
Duncan said they’ve been working over the past couple years to increase the number of training seats for early childhood educators (ECE).
He said they’ve also offered funds to facilities in the situation where a worker wants to go back to school and upgrade their ECE training.
“Some of that does take them out of the workplace for a period of time, and so we have provided funds to child care operators to essentially fill those positions while their staff member is away.”
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