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March 17, 2026 Statement on Alberta’s Professional Development and Release Time Funding Update

On Friday, March 13, 2026, the Government of Alberta released information about upcoming changes to professional development (PD) and release time funding for early childhood educators under a new program called the Early Childhood Educator Workforce Supports Program, which will take effect on Ap

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) acknowledges the Government of Alberta’s 2026–27 budget commitment to maintaining wage top-ups, professional development, and release time funding for early childhood educat

On February 19, 2026, the Government of Alberta shared updates with licensed child care programs, family day home agencies, and family day home educators regarding the 2026/27 grant agreements.

Threads of Belonging – Weaving Identity, Leadership & Community

On April 1, 2025, the Government of Alberta implemented major changes to the child care affordability funding model, including the elimination of the child care subsidy, the introduction of a flat-rate $15/day parent fee, and permission for providers to charge optional supplemental fees.

Throughout the Alberta teachers’ strike, early childhood educators (ECEs) across Alberta stepped up to support children and families while teachers advocated for fair wages and working conditions.

Effective September 30, 2025, updates to the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Regulation will come into force.

On August 18, 2025, the Government of Alberta announced a new bursary program for up to 300 aspiring and advancing early childhood educators in Alberta over a three-year period.

Whether you work in daycare, out-of-school care, a preschool, or a family day home, choosing the right professional development (PD) opportunity is essential to your career, growth, and impact.

Overview Measles is an extremely contagious disease that is spread easily through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Measles is sometimes called rubeola or red measles.

The 2025 wildfire season in Alberta has brought significant challenges and hardships to the province.

The influences in a child’s developmental environment, both positive and negative, interact to shape the development of their brain, the integrated systems in their body—including the immune, metabolic, and cardiovascular systems—and even how their genes are expressed.

What would it take for every child in Canada to be learning foundational literacy skills by the age of five? That’s the question at the heart of our new report, What Would It Take….

The AECEA Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition shines a light on an early childhood educator making outstanding contributions within Alberta’s early learning and child care community.

The Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction recognizes the outstanding historical contributions of an educator and leader in Alberta’s early learning and child care community.

Happy Early Childhood Educator Day!

In an email sent to program operators on May 1, 2025, the Government of Alberta shared that the intake for the Inclusive Spaces Program Grant has been re-opened: 

On April 30, 2025, the Government of Alberta released information on imminent changes to the Early Learning and Child Care Amendment Act. It also introduced a new ECE lookup tool and an unlicensed child care lookup tool. 

We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for AECEA’s 2025 Essential Pieces Conference happening May 23–24, 2025!

On January 30, 2025, the Ministry of Jobs, Economy, and Trade (JET) hosted a town hall to announce changes to Alberta’s early learning and child care funding approach.

The National Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Workforce Policy Table has released its policy recommendations on wages, benefits and pensions providing a roadmap to a robust and sustainable ELCC workforce.

Convention on the Rights of the Child: For every child, every right.

The Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Early Childhood Education

Read the Report

Federal and provincial governments have embarked on a major undertaking to build systems of early learning and child care across Canada that meet high standards for quality, affordability, accessibility, inclusion, and flexibility.

We are excited to share that a new member benefit is now available for associate members! HR Covered Inc. is a team of passionate HR experts who make HR simple and cover all HR avenues at a fraction of the cost.

We are excited to share an impact report summarizing early childhood educator (ECE) feedback from year two of the Brain Story & Theory-to-Practice grant as well as an executive summary of the first two years of the grant.

The 2024 wildfire season in Alberta has brought significant challenges and hardships to the province.

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.

SACDA's 2025 IGNITE Conference Committee is putting together another year of amazing school age care learning and connection. 

Please save the date for

Saturday, March 8, 2025

Alberta Health Services has released an updated Health and Safety Guide for Operators of Child Care Facilities. Take a look by clicking the button below.

A new report from the Lawson Foundation “More Than a New Course: A Framework for Embedding Outdoor and Land-based Pedagogies in Post-Secondary ECE Programs,” provides guidelines to help integrate Outdoo

As Alberta continues to build out its spaces under the Canada-wide child-care system, there are increasing calls to improve compensation for educators who staff child-care centres.

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Happy Early Childhood Educator Day! This special day is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the hard work, dedication, and impact of early childhood educators. You play a crucial role in the development and growth of young children, laying the foundation for lifelong learning and success.

The Edmonton Council of Early Learning and Care (ECELC) has released a new publication. Parents’ Views About the Quality of Early Learning and Child Care in Alberta

The AECEA Early Childhood Educator Award of Recognition shines a light on an early childhood educator making outstanding contributions within Alberta’s early learning and child care community.

The Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction recognizes the outstanding historical contributions of an educator and leader in Alberta’s early learning and child care community.

This report contains a snapshot of the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care’s work and associated impacts between September 2022 and August 2023.

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) and the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC) have been working on a community-engaged, qualitative research project to explore ways to achieve workforce stability for Alberta's early learning and child care (ELCC) sec

The 2021 federal budget laid out its historic vision of a universal, publicly funded child care system “for all” based on five principles: affordability, accessibility, quality, flexibility and inclusivity.

Exciting new report from the town of Jasper titled “Jasper’s Community Child Care Strategy 2023-2027”. This report is an example of how Alberta municipalities can be a strong voice for creating child care access in their communities. Background

Consider nominating an educator for a 2024 Prime Minister’s Award!

We are excited to announce the dates for the 2024 Essential Pieces conference! For 2024, the conference will be virtual in order to allow early childhood educators province-wide the ability to attend and will be held on April 26-27, 2024.

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

A budget for now and the future Author: Alternative Federal Budget Working Group

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Format: Report

Publication Date: 24 Aug 2023 AVAILABILITY

AECEA, ECELC and the University of Alberta are recruiting participants in the early learning and child care (ELCC) sector for a research project, Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Stability Project.

2023 AECEA Awards

Children's Services launches additional technical briefings on the Cost Control Framework and For-Profit Expansion Plan Technical Briefings. VIEW THE LETTER

Are you currently employed in the child care field?

The Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation (CCLF) has launched 

In fall 2022, the Muttart Foundation in partnership with the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta and the Alberta Leaders Caucus sponsored a series of focus group discussions with certified early childhood educators across Alberta.

Advocates say Alberta needs to improve compensation for early childhood educators so they stay in the system at the same time the number of spaces is expanding dramatically under the federal government's plan for $10-a-day child care. 

AECEA is excited to announce that award nominations are now open. Please see below for information on 2023's awards and nominate someone today!

On March 15, 2023 the wage grid research team presented in an AECEA Connect session to share their recommendations for a wage grid for Alberta ECEs and for the next step will be engaging with ECEs, progra

Early Childhood Education Leadership Development Certificate

"Over the past twelve months, a research team representing the Community-University Partnership (CUP), the Evaluation Capacity Network (ECN), and the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC) has been working with the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) on a com

AECEA's Essential Pieces conference is back! For 2023, the conference will be virtual in order to allow early childhood educators province-wide the ability to attend. Stay tuned for more information! 

In January 2021, ECELC launched the Journeys Project. The Journeys Project is a collaboration between the Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative, the Community-University Partnership and the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care.

CRRU happy holidays and child care in review

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

Alberta’s government is providing early childhood educators with a one-time payment and wage top-up to help recruit and retain staff. 

The Government of Alberta understands that high-quality child care starts with qualified ECEs. As part of our commitment to support the quality and professionalism of the childcare workforce, we would like to share with you the following information about what we are doing to invest in the training recruitment, and certification and retention of early childhood educators.

The Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement (ARCQE)'s upcoming National Child Day conference is now open for registration. The conference theme is titled "Empowering Children to Thrive: Cultivating the Strong Potential of All Children!". It so positively reflects the premise of Alberta’s Flight Curriculum Framework relative to nurturing children to be competent, capable, curious, and rich in potential! Leading off this year’s conference in thought-provoking reflection, insight, and pedagogical discussion, ARCQE is also pleased to share the engagement involvement of two engaging and dynamic keynote speakers—Dr. Claire Wardon of Scotland and Alex Morgan of Colorado! ARCQE has decided once again to proceed with a virtual format on the Accelevents platform which many of you have previously engaged with during our last two conferences' annual events. The conference will be held virtually on November 17-19, 2022.

The AECEA office has moved to the following address effective September 1, 2022. Please update your records accordingly.  320 - 11150 Jasper Avenue

Edmonton, AB, T5K 0C7

Child care coverage rates are an important way to measure the availability of child care, with higher rates generally meaning child care is more available.

Applications are open for $50 million in funding in 2022-23 for non-profit groups interested in creating new child-care spaces and providing child care in a licensed child-care program in Alberta.

Access agreement online Excerpted from agreement

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) is proud to announce ECE Day for 2022 will be held on May 20, 2022.

As part of the Alberta-Canada Early Learning and Child Care (AC-ELCC) agreement, Children’s Services is engaging with child care sector stakeholders to explore a wide variety of topics to create a system that supports families, early learning professionals and the sector as a whole.  

If you have already obtained your Level 3 Early Childhood Educator certification and you want to expand your knowledge, the Government of Alberta has recently approved five mental health courses for professional development funding (up to $1500/year).

Child care fees on track to drop substantially in 2022 in most big cities, but not all are projected to meet targets: report

Each year AECEA presents the Dr.

The Inclusive Child Care (ICC) Resource Bank is now live!  ICC is funded by Alberta Children’s Services and provides resources and supports to licensed Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) programs to successfully include children who have extra support needs.

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%.

The final report from the COVID-19 Survey AECEA conducted with the sector in October 2021 is now available!

Today, the Minister of Children's Services, Rebecca Schulz, sent a letter and additional resources to program operators on the new Federal-Provincial Child Care Agreement.

On November 15, 2021, Albertans received great news.

A made-in-Alberta child-care deal gives the province the flexibility to meet the unique needs of Alberta families, helps drive economic recovery and supports working parents by lowering child-care fees.

Recently, early learning and child care programs in Alberta expressed increasing concerns about the effects of the fourth wave of COVID-19 and what the future holds for them. To better understand these concerns, AECEA conducted a survey of ELCC programs in Alberta.

Just released by the Canadian Child Care Federation, Child Care Now, Muttart Foundation and the YMCA of Northern Alberta, Roadmap to a Quality Early Learning and Child Care System in Alberta. This roadmap has been organized into four sections:

In this brief, Rob Buschmann, Miranda Brown, and Gordon Cleveland provide an overview and analysis of the two major federal early learning and child care plans (Liberal and Conservative) and analyze their effects on early learning and child care affordability for an example family in Calgary.

The Alberta and federal governments have reached an agreement to extend the Canada–Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement that will provide Alberta over $290 million in funding over 4 years to improve access to high quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child ca