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Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan will sign a renewed agreement with Ottawa to expand the federally subsidized $10-a-day child care program.
The agreement will ensure financing until March 2031.
“I’m happy to say we’ve reached an agreement with the federal government. We will renew that five-year agreement and sign it that Friday,” Moe said during question period Wednesday.
The existing five-year agreement, which covers subsidized childcare rates and salary improvements for early childhood educators, would expire in March 2026. Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only two provinces that have not yet finalized the extension.
Advocates, staff and parents say the uncertainty has been stressful, but the announcement is a huge relief.
relieved mother
Regina mother Shayla Dietrich, who has two children in subsidized daycare, said she is “relieved and happy” the province got the deal.
“As a mother, I am 100 percent, very excited, very relieved,” she said in an interview. “As a working mom, there’s always a little bit of stress hanging over your head, like: Is this coming? Is this something I have to deal with? Can my family handle it?”
She said affordable child care is an equality issue for women because without it, women are often forced out of work.
“Moms have enough challenges. Finding more money for daycare or being forced out of the workforce shouldn’t be one of them.”
Child care worker excited to stay on the job
Nicole Wall, an early childhood educator at Play & Discover Early Learning Center in Regina, said she and her colleagues didn’t feel confident if they would be able to continue working as child care workers.
“I’m excited to see that a plan is actually going to be put in place,” Wall said. “I know many of us were feeling left in limbo and people were starting to look around to find new jobs in different fields.”
Wall said the existing agreement includes wage improvements tied to the $10-a-day program. If the deal had expired, without a new one that included the pay increase, educators risked losing $5 to $7 an hour, something she and many others couldn’t afford.
“Which is absurd, for lack of a better word. I’ve been in this field for 17 years and maybe I have to start looking for something else,” he said.
“If they were going to cut my salary, I couldn’t stay in the industry any longer. Before the salary increase, I had a second job and I got rid of it. And I really don’t want to go back to that because our job is in high demand,” he said.
Wall said there will be a sense of relief across the board.
