$10-a-day child care coming to Sask. this spring

Fees for licensed child care in Saskatchewan will drop to $10 a day this spring.

Parents whose children are under the age of six and attend regulated child care full-time in Saskatchewan can expect to pay $217.50 per month.

The fee reductions will save families $395 to $573 per month for each child, a provincial news release said.

"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 in the release.

Julie Wermie, a mother of four, said this reduction will help her family plan for the future. Two of her children are still in daycare.

“When we first started out paying for daycare, the fees were like $800-900 per child, so it was very financially difficult to go through that,” Wermie said.

“Now that they’re down to $10 per day is absolutely amazing. It helps so much for us to continue putting away education money for our kids later on.”

BOOSTING CHILDCARE STAFFING

The provincial and federal governments are working on plans to create more jobs in early childhood education, in response to the demand felt by those in the sector.

The agreement will also provide grants for regulated child care facilities, funding for free training and education to increase the number of early childhood educators and wage enhancements of up to $5 per hour.

“We know that there is a lot of turnover. As we’re building this plan out with the federal government we wanted to incentivize those that are already in the sector to stay in the sector while, at the same time, working to develop a wage grid for the sector,” Duncan said at a press conference Monday.

Duncan added establishing that wage grid for early childhood educators is a priority for the ministry of education in 2023.

Bailey Fleck, the director of Weldon Childcare, said while the new announcements are promising, the industry needs to see follow through in order to continue helping children.

“We are struggling hard with staffing. When we do get staff, we’re struggling to keep them because the wages are so, so low. There’s no pension and there’s minimal benefits, if any,” Fleck said.

“We have been basically in crisis mode for the last year for sure.”

Previously, Fleck said job postings would receive around 30 applicants. Now they’re lucky to have couple of people apply who have the necessary qualifications.

“There’s been a huge push for more child care spaces across Saskatchewan and I absolutely agree that that is needed for sure. Our waitlist is a million miles long,” Fleck said.

“But the biggest thing is that we don’t have the [people] to staff those facilities. Until we see a higher wage grid for all of our staff - those who are educated and those who are working towards education -we’re not going to get anywhere with those new childcare spaces.“

In 2021, the federal Liberal government earmarked $30 billion over five years to establish a national child-care program by 2026, and has since been working with each province on an individual basis to see the plan through.

“By working together, Canada and Saskatchewan have achieved our shared goal of affordable child care three years ahead of schedule,” Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said in the news release.

“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.”

The reduction is set to come into effect on April 1.