AECEA Connect Webinars

In this session, we were joined by Christopher Smith and Tara Stang from the Muttart Foundation to present the Alberta results from a National Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic and to discuss early learning and child care funding in Alberta.

Due to a technical difficulty, the first 10 minutes were not recorded. To view the slides from the session to catch up on what was missed, go here.

To make a request for AECEA to ZOOM into your staff meeting or event, go here.

Documents referenced in the webinar:

• Canadian child care: Preliminary results from a national survey during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, Child Care Now, and the Canadian Child Care Federation
• Early Learning and Child Care in Alberta: Results from a National Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic by the Muttart Foundation and the Canadian Child Care Federation
• Highlights from 'Early Learning and Child Care in Alberta: Results from a National Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic'

In this session, we were joined by Corine Ferguson, Nikki Meyer, and Alison Rinas with the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement (ARCQE). Corine, Nikki, and Alison shared information about the expansion of their Pedagogical Partners Project, their new Flight: Alberta's Early Learning and Care Framework professional learning series, and other support services they offer.

Check out ARCQE's website at https://arcqe.ca/. For questions about any of ARCQE's programs, email them at info@arcqe.ca or call them at 1-866-429-4930.

In ARCQE's presentation for AECEA connect,  it was indicated that there was a discontinuation of ASaP involvement as part of all of curriculum framework support. We have heard that this created some confusion in how ASaP supports continue to be provided. Please be assured that ASaP continues to be a partner in supporting child care programs and will continue to grow in their work across the province.

For further information specific to each program, please visit:

GRIT program website at:  www.asapgrit.ca
ARCQE website at: https://arcqe.ca/projects/pp/

In this session, we were joined by Cody Topp with TOPP KIDS Out of School Programs and the School Age Care Directors Association of Alberta to talk about how the first month back to school went for out of school care programs and share information on SACDA's initiatives.

In this session, we premiered AECEA's advocacy videos. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, you will not be able to view the advocacy videos in this recording.

Stay tuned for the launch of our Quality portal and videos on National Child Day on November 20th!

In this session, we were joined by Jane Beach to speak on her report written for the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care and the Muttart Foundation, An Examination of Regulatory and Other Measures to Support Quality Early Learning and Care in Alberta. To view the report, go to https://www.ecelc.ca/publications-archive/rzxkjnn83rlps2rvf7riw5fzwxocov-fdw8b-mzbkl-xlh5j.

Jane is an early learning and child care research and policy consultant, based in Victoria BC. Over the past 25 years, Jane has developed child care expansion plans, conducted numerous child care studies, and authored many research and policy reports for government, universities, non-profit organizations and labour groups.

To download the presentation slides, go here.

In this session, Jennifer Usher* talked about how the new ELCC Regulations & Act align with AECEA's recommendations.

AECEA's response to the changes in the Regulations can be viewed here.

AECEA's response to the changes in the Act can be viewed here.

*Jennifer works for the Medicine Hat and District Child Care Association and is a past AECEA board member (2017-2020). In January 2021, Jennifer authored AECEA's Response to the Regulations and Act papers.

In this session, we celebrated the first anniversary of the Connect sessions and connected with attendees on how the last year in early learning and child care had been for them.

What Does it Mean to be an ELCC Professional?

Kei Lei Tomshak is an early childhood educator who has just completed her 3rd year at Mount Royal University in the Child Studies program. Kei shared her journey through her practicum experience on professionalism in the global early childhood sector.

This presentation covered some similarities, differences, and common issues in views and ideas of professionalism in the industry. Kei shared how her journey as a post-diploma student brought this topic of research to mind, how it reignited her passion for the field of early childhood education and why it is important to keep growing and learning as a professional.

Presentation Slideshow

In this session, AECEA and the Canadian Child Care Federation had a conversation about what the federal government's national child care plan really means for the sector.

For a great podcast on measuring child care affordability, go here.

Still have questions? Contact us

In this session, we were joined by Carolyn Porter and Julia Moore with the ASaP Program and explored the importance of self-care and mindfulness for caregivers. We looked at the effects of stress and ways to help regulate and relax and at how important it is as caregivers to take care of ourselves and know our own 'hot buttons' so we are best able to support the children in our care.

Handouts from the session:

• Help Us Stay Calm infographic
• Self-care Reflective Questions
• Taking Care of Yourself infographic
• Self Care Strategies

On November 15th, the Alberta government signed a historic agreement with the federal government to support early learning and child care system building in the province. Under the agreement, Alberta will receive federal transfers of $3.8 billion over the next five years to transform how regulated services are organized, financed and delivered with the goals of reducing parent fees, expanding regulated non-profit or public services and building the capacity of the early learning and child care workforce. In advance of the agreement, the Canadian Child Care Federation, Child Care Now, the YMCA of Northern Alberta and the Muttart Foundation worked with stakeholders to develop a policy roadmap that outlines how early learning child care system building might best begin in Alberta. The roadmap was released shortly after the signing of the agreement and has been shared with the provincial and federal governments. This webinar explores the key policy actions needed to support system building and provides an initial assessment of how this work is beginning to take shape in Alberta.

The Government of Alberta has released its plan to reduce child care fees in Alberta by an average of 50% by early 2022. Under this plan, every family’s out-of-pocket fees will decrease, but lower-income families will not see a 50% decrease—and some may see a decrease of less than 15%. As a result, child care may still be unaffordable for lower-income families under the new system. This talk will explain how the new system works, why it creates uneven decreases for different families across Alberta and will discuss both short-term and long-term options for changing this situation. 

Our Guest
Rob Buschmann, PhD is a research associate at the Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. He is currently CUP’s representative to the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC), an organization with the vision of early learning and care for all children that is high in quality, universally available, accessible, affordable, and responsive to the diversity of individual children and their families.

In this session, Miranda Brown focused specifically on early childhood educator (ECE) wages in Alberta from a historical perspective using wage data from 2000-2020. She discussed what wages mean for retention in a labour market as "unique" as Alberta's and what Alberta's current retention philosophy communicates about how the province values ECEs and care work more generally.

Miranda Brown is a Master’s student at York University in Toronto and a Research Assistant at the Community-University Partnership at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Miranda spent the last year working closely with the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC) with supervisor Rob Buschmann on policy research in the early learning and care sector.

SESSION SLIDES