Qualified Early Childhood Educators will be eligible for a wage increase of up to $3 per hour, with $9.6-million coming from the federal government. A combined news release from the provincial and federal governments says the investment is part of over $17-million in one-time federal funding to support the early childhood workforce. Saskatchewan’s Education Minister, Dustin Duncan says the investment recognizes the hard work these Early Childhood Educators do, while creating an incentive for people to consider becoming an ECE as a career.

The wage increase is retroactive to July 1st, and it’s anticipated that centres will be able to access the funds by December. The amount will vary according to ECE certification levels. The Ministry of Education is collecting information from licensed child care facilities to calculate the increases.

The news release states that this increase will provide a baseline for the provincial government to work toward developing a wage grid for ECEs across the province. The rest of the $17-million will go toward funding accelerated ECE certificate or diploma training.