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Excerpt: "The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that the Government of Canada is providing Ontario with $201.87 million to create child care spaces and support inclusive child care services across the province, especially in underserved communities. This investment, part of the previously announced $625 million Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, will help Ontario reach our goal of creating 86,000 new child care spaces by 2026 – meaning more families in Ontario can access affordable spaces. It will mean more spaces in rural and remote regions, high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities that face barriers to access, including racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, as well as parents, caregivers, and children with disabilities. We are working with all other provincial and territorial partners to reach similar funding agreements."

Excerpt: "Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) will add more spaces to its child study centre in Halifax and expand the age groups it serves with funding support from the provincial and federal governments. This will help meet the need for child care in the community and enhance the education and professional development of aspiring early childhood educators in the university’s child and youth study program, while offering research opportunities in the field. “We are pleased to support the expansion of MSVU’s child-care facility. Families need greater access to reliable and affordable child care, and we need more professionals to provide that care,” said Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. “We’re proud of the work MSVU is doing to help meet the needs of families in the community.” The larger facility will add an additional 82 spaces and introduce up to 32 infant spaces. Parents who are on the existing wait list will be given priority."

A research collaboration with С������Ƶ, University of Manitoba, Lakehead University, and Simon Fraser University will present their findings publicly on May 13th.

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Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

On May 6th, 2024, UNISA conferred the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Education on Professor George Sefa Dei in recognition of the national and international impact of his scholarly pursuits, within and beyond the realm of academia, and his lifelong quest for answers to global educational challenges.

Excerpt: "Manitoba’s early learning and child-care wage grid sets recommended starting-point and target wages for various positions within the early learning and child-care sector. The province provides facilities with a wage grid supplement. This additional funding helps facilities increase wages to meet the wage grid levels. Funding for wages in 2024-25 will increase by 2.75 per cent beginning July 1 for a total additional funding contribution of $10.9 million: $10.3 million from the government of Canada and $600,000 from the Manitoba government."

Excerpt: "Whereas Nova Scotia indicates that since signing the agreement, there have been challenges expending its 2022 to 2023 allocation due to diverse implementation challenges. Whereas the parties agree to increase in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, Nova Scotia's carry forward allowance from 30% to 63% for 2022 to 2023 into 2023 to 2024. Now therefore, the parties agree to amend the agreement, as follows: section 4 is amended by replacing article 4.6.2 with the following: "4.6.2 In fiscal year 2022 to 2023, at the request of Nova Scotia, and subject to the approval of Canada's Treasury Board by the federal Minister, Nova Scotia may retain and carry forward to the following fiscal year any unexpended funds remaining from Nova Scotia's annual funding payable under section 4.2, up to a maximum of 63% of the contribution payable. Any unexpended funds in excess of 63% of the contribution payable represents an overpayment subject to section 4.7.""

e-News

Excerpt: "Families in Hammonds Plains will see more early learning and child-care spaces opening in their community this summer. It Takes a Village Child Care Centre on Parkland Drive in Halifax is opening a second location at 1432 Hammonds Plains Rd. The new centre is expected to create about 75 new child-care spaces for toddlers and preschool-aged children. “Nova Scotians have told us they need better access to child care, and that’s exactly what we are providing,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan. “These new spaces are part of our updated expansion plan to increase access to child care across the province.” This is the first project approved under the Province’s new Minor Infrastructure Program for New Early Learning and Child Care Space Creation that offers funding to licensed not-for-profit child-care providers to quickly renovate and expand."

Excerpt: "Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House to highlight our government’s efforts to improve access to early learning and child care in the province. These efforts have been recognized in a recent report by the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, which ranks Newfoundland and Labrador fourth in the country amongst all provinces and territories when comparing governance, funding, access, the early learning environment, and accountability. Speaker, our government has been listening and responding to the needs of families, service providers, and the early learning workforce. We have implemented recruitment and retention initiatives for early childhood educators; we have provided incentives and funding to increase the number of early learning and child care spaces; and we are continuing to ensure that regulated child care is high quality, affordable and inclusive."