AECEA believes a qualified workforce is the foundation for a high-quality child care system. This document defines AECEA’s role, value, and authority within this system. It summarizes the association’s history and operations and outlines its vision, mission, and goals. It describes the association’s efforts and accomplishments in five key areas of its work on behalf of Alberta’s early childhood educators.

Well-qualified, caring early childhood educators are the prime determinant of a quality child care system, and education is the prime determinant of qualified early childhood educators. Sadly, the educational preparation of Alberta’s early learning and child care workforce is well below international standards.

Knowing that the new federal government funding will be allocated to the ECE workforce, the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) and the Alberta Early Learning and Care Leaders Caucus (ALC) have researched and proposed two strategies the Government of Alberta could use to support educators developing and investing in an ELCC workplace education model and ensuring workplace supports for ECEs.