On Monday, June 17, 2024, Minister Jones of Jobs, Economy and Trade (JET: the new Ministry overseeing child care) hosted a town hall for the early learning and child care (ELCC) sector.
Below we have compiled some topics of interest from that meeting for Alberta early childhood educators (ECEs).
Note: quotes are from Minister Jones and ministry staff.
Minister Jones announced the return of the Minister’s Awards of Excellence in Child Development! Nominations will open July 1, 2024.
Nine awards are available to early learning and child care professionals with 3 awards in each category:
Further information can be found at https://www.alberta.ca/ministers-awards-excellence-child-development.
“Early childhood educators have a critical role in high quality, inclusive child care. Their education, experience and compassion continue to serve as the bedrock of a successful child care program. Alberta’s government remains committed to supporting and acknowledging the important work ECEs do to shape our future generation. That's why in October, we will celebrate some of the best and brightest in our child care sector through the Minister's Awards of Excellence in Child Development. Details about the nomination process will be sent to providers and posted online soon.”
Minister Jones reiterated the government’s commitment to high-quality ELCC. Some things he shared:
The Ministry will define what high-quality care is, and make sure every operator is providing this as a standard not a minimum.
The government wants to hear from all stakeholders about how we can transform the early learning and child care (ELCC) sector into an integrated system that provides affordable, accessible, high-quality ELCC to children and families. They are asking for input on how funding could be allocated so that it is fair, equitable, and accountable to public funds.
“I want to reassure all childcare providers in facilities and family day homes that we are focused on the development of a sustainable funding model, which enables you to provide high-quality child care.”
Four new questionnaires are being sent to stakeholders and will ask about human resources, programming, facilities and administrative costs.
The questionnaires are mandatory for providers receiving affordability grant funding and need to be completed within 3 weeks. The answers will help shape how early learning and child care is funded; therefore, the questionnaires must be completed in good faith and with accurate data.
Please watch for the questionnaires on the following dates:
(At this time out-of-school care programs and ECEs employed at facility-based programs are not included)
“We value the frank and open discussions about the challenges of providing child care from your home and the benefits that so many Alberta families receive from this personal form of child care.”
The Ministry is aware of the concerns of operating family child care. They are looking at the following:
AECEA will continue to work alongside the Alberta Family Child Care Association (AFCCA) as we transform early learning and child care in Alberta to a high-quality system that works for all educators, children, and families.
A new online portal is being developed for educators to access certification, professional development and funding. Watch for the launch of this portal in July.
The Ministry is also developing a new claims system. Details coming soon.
The Ministry mentioned the three funding streams they offer to ECEs:
Further information on funding for ECEs can be found at https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-child-care-grant-funding-program
The government provides an average of $4,000 per year, per ECE for professional development and release time funding.
AECEA encourages ECEs to access this funding as it contributes to the professionalism of our sector.
Within the questionnaires being sent to programs, they will be asking about ECE compensation.
Minister Jones assured a caller that the wage grid (Alberta Compensation Framework Report) was reviewed. The government wants to appropriately compensate ECEs and not penalize owners/operators for hiring ECEs with higher credentials. Because the Ministry believes in high-quality child care, they explored the use of a wage grid to ensure ECEs with Levels 2 and 3 are a part of operations.
When asked if wage enhancements would ever be offered to support staff, the Minister recognized this as a significant component of some child care programs and is asking about this in the upcoming questionnaires.
When asked if the Ministry was considering a pension or benefit plan for ECEs, Minister Jones noted that funds have been invested in professional development, release time funding, and post-secondary training already. This initiative would require a deeper conversation as there are a variety of compensation structures across the province that would need to be considered.
AECEA will continue to work with Ministry staff on a workforce strategy that includes an appropriate compensation envelope within the funding model.
Subsidy rates for school-aged children will be increased for the summer months of July and August to account for the extra care some families might need.
AECEA continues to work alongside the School Age Care Director of Alberta (SACDA) as decisions are being made about out-of-school care.
In the event of a natural disaster, and a child care program closes for up to 6 weeks because of an evacuation order or alert issued by local authorities, affordability grant payments and subsidies will not be impacted. If an owner/operator chooses to pay ECEs during a temporary closure or evacuation, the government will continue to pay wage top-ups. The Ministry will update its policies to reflect this change.
When this information was sent on June 24 to members and June 28 to non-members, we asked for comments to be sent to us so that we could share them at our regularly scheduled meeting with Minister Jones and ministry staff. Thank you to everyone who sent a comment, they have all been shared with the ministry. See below for the common themes from the comments:
Many respondents appreciated the repeated statements about the need for high quality, fair and equitable early learning and child care (ELCC).
“I appreciate the time taken to involve the child care community in the discussion regarding the Cost Control Framework and general comments and updates given during the Town Hall. It's important for all stakeholders to have the opportunity to participate in this process.”
“Thank you for the work you are doing to support ECE. I appreciate the efforts to give better wages and professional development opportunities to individuals in the ECE field.”
“Thank you for your continued commitment to improving the quality of child care in Alberta.”
“Thank you for considering our requests and for your continued dedication to improving child care in Alberta.”
They also wanted the Ministry to consider the following:
A few responses commented on OSC. One wanted the Ministry to include OSC in the affordability grant:
“We need the ministry to fully understand that and ensure that those programs (OSC) are invited to the table.”
Another comment offered that families are shocked when their fees go up when a child enters OSC.
“Once a child leaves Daycare and goes to BAS - their fees double, with no food, less hours of care and no cover for school vacations. Parents then get a HUGE shock as to the real cost of childcare.”
The principle of affordability was mentioned from various perspectives. Many acknowledged the benefits to families. That lowering costs for families has supported them and our economy.
“Lowering costs for families will greatly benefit our economy. It seems many families need at least 2 incomes to survive.”
However, one respondent mentioned concerns about funding ELCC based on licensed spaces rather than registered spaces. They explained that a room might be licensed for 20 children; however, they only register 16 children to meet group sizes and to afford staffing costs of wages and benefits.
“If the province comes to an equation of ‘cost’ (and) divides it by our licensed number which gives them a ‘cost per space’ and then only pay us by the users we have, we will not make ends meet.”
A parent mentioned their concern for the difference in funding between facility and home-based care. The difference made it difficult for them to remain at a home-based program they valued because the cost was too high after their second child.
“While the cost of care is significantly improved by subsidy and the affordability grant, we still noted the difference in overall cost between day home and day care. At the time, with one child, we were able to choose to continue with our day home, despite this difference. We now have two children in care, however, so this difference in cost doubled. With the cost of living so high, however, after a couple of months in a day home, we no longer felt we had the luxury to maintain that, despite our children having settled in and bonded with the educator and her family. We had to make the difficult decision to switch to a day care facility as this saves us $400-$500 per month - a significant amount for any family.”
Another respondent commented that the cost of heat, power, water, and rent does not change if they are operating at half capacity.
“The reality is the cost to heat / power / water / rent etc. doesn't change if we are 1/2 capacity or full capacity. It only affects the cost of nutrition and supplies directly used by the children.”
Lastly, one respondent commented that any fee structure should be the same for new owners/operators as it is for those who have operated before 2021.
“If daycares who signed in to the Agreement were tied in to their 2021 fees, a structure should have been used for new Daycares to be tied in as well.”
Some comments were about inclusive ELCC.
One respondent offered that support for the program is essential to help the children and families. They expressed the need for wrap-around services that are coordinated to help programs access resources to help support children with identified needs:
“Early intervention is key to later success in life. Teaching children skills to cope, giving one on one attention when needed, and offering an inclusive classroom is important to me.”
“[we] also need our ICC programs back. The new system doesn't work. My operator had used the new system twice, and it failed, it failed the children, families, and workers. I have children that are not getting the help they need. Families that are not being able to access help.”
One respondent offered gratitude for the ongoing funding for professional development.
“Thank you for the work you are doing to support ECE. I appreciate the efforts to give better wages and professional development opportunities to individuals in the ECE field.”
One respondent suggested that including PD funding and release time funding in the total compensation package only helps ECEs who take it.
“Increased PD money does not help ALL staff, only the ones who access it.”
One wondered how many ECEs were accessing PD and release time funding.
“How many ECE are using the professional development fund and the release time fund every year. What is done with leftover money on a yearly basis?”
Another comment wanted to make sure support staff are certified, so then it would allow them to quality for PD funding and have career growth, have a sense of pride and perhaps lead to workforce stability
Many respondents had concerns about the current certification process.
“Some staff were grandfathered in and have never taken ECE-related courses.”
“Our Early Years children deserve the very best, their foundation is important, no one without certification should be employed.”
Lastly, another suggested that there should be mechanisms in place to support ECEs seeking higher certification.
“On this topic I feel that front-end funding educators to fulfill their Level II and Level III will see higher enrolment. This could be done with a signed agreement committing to "X" number of years of service in the field following graduation.”
Many respondents commented on the wage enhancement program and the wage grid recommendations put forward by AECEA.
“Thank you for addressing the concerns regarding the wage grid as outlined in the Alberta Compensation Framework Report. We appreciate the government's efforts to appropriately compensate Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) without penalizing owners or operators for hiring those with higher credentials. Ensuring that ECEs with Levels 2 and 3 are part of operations is crucial for maintaining high-quality child care.”
“Thank you for assuring us that the wage grid, as outlined in the Alberta Compensation Framework Report, was reviewed.”
Some respondents suggested that support and administrative staff need to be include in wage enhancement funding with an expectation they should be certified.
“We rely on them (support staff) to jump in and cover staff for breaks, lunches, or imminent illness. One way to retain them would be to offer the wage top up. I think the expectation that they are certified is a must. It would also open the door for them to qualify for PD funding and continue with their career growth.”
“There are ECE educators in our organization who worked hard to be promoted to be in leadership team. Due to our skills and continuous education, we were able to grow into the positions of administration and work in the main office. However, we do not qualify for wage top ups due to managing enrollment and other business side of the child care organization, losing on wage top up. That means we are making the same amount of wage as if we would be working in the centre despite us growing as leaders who keep child care centres successful. How people with ECE education in admin roles can be compensated fairly?”
Some respondents also commented on the inequity across ECE wages and that some child care services pay minimum wage and rely on the top-ups while others offer higher wages plus top-ups.
“This disparity affects educators' decisions to stay in the field, creating instability and inconsistency in child care services. We request that the government standardize wages for all ECEs based on their education and experience, rather than leaving it to the discretion of employers”
A couple or respondents asked for a pension plan.
“Maybe give us some pension money for retirement at 65.”
Others stated,
“We request that you include adjustments for inflation from 2019 to 2024 to ensure that educators receive livable wages. Currently, all educators are suffering due to low wages and the lack of professional work standards in this field.”
“[s]ome companies do not match the actual wage set up by Government. They need to check with every childcare licensed facility that whether they are giving enough wages to educators or not.”
One comment had concern about how the current wage enhancement process does not keep up with inflation, compensate for all time, does not account for sick days.
“If staff are sick, they lose wage top up, - if we as a business pay them sick pay, then so should the Government. You can't cherry pick a wage top up!”
Many respondents commented on the lack of acknowledgement for their experience and no improvement in pay despite years of experience.
“I have worked in the ECE Field for thirty years and the wages I am getting are the same as a Level 3 straight out of college without any experience. I have a diploma from a credible university in Canada and 30 years of experience. I think the Government should acknowledge this and reward the people who have stayed in the ECE field all these years.”
“I have been in the field for over 25 years. We need proper wage, medical coverage, retirement, sick, and holiday pay. Also chances for pay grid advancement or work advancement. And better access to funding for education.”
“I have been working in this field since 18 years. I’m so wondering why I’m still getting hourly wage not the salary. No benefits no pension plans.”
A couple of respondents commented on the uniqueness of family day home (FDH)
“I would like to reiterate the importance of giving as much advance notice as possible to FDH agencies of upcoming changes in funding or funding delivery, that are specific to FDH. It takes longer to inform and educate the day home programs and parents of the changes, as it must be done through email/phone/newsletter as they are not on site as in facility-based programs. Having the time for agencies to clarify their own understanding prior to implementing any changes will alleviate misunderstandings and greatly assist in the smooth rollout of the next phase of funding.”
“There are many benefits to being registered with an agency such as the support, help, funding taken care of with parents, and more. As much as we are told that we as dayhome educators are running our own business - it sure doesn't feel like that. The line between running your own business and being run by an agency is pretty gray.”
“Thank you for the work you are doing to support ECE. I appreciate the efforts to give better wages and professional development opportunities to individuals in the ECE field.”
If you have further questions for the ministry about the Affordability Grant, please contact them at cs.ccaffordgrant@gov.ab.ca.
Additional contact information for ministry departments can be found here.
AECEA remains committed to working with the Ministry on a comprehensive workforce strategy to achieve our vision where well-qualified, well-compensated early childhood educators are respected as professionals, valued for their important work, and supported in providing high-quality child care for Alberta’s children and families.
