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Federal Government Announces New Investments in Early Childhood Care and Education
Published: March 28th, 2024
The Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC) welcome today’s announcement by the Federal Government of new investments in the field of Early Childhood Care and Education. We see this as another step on the road towards an accessible, affordable, and high quality national childcare system in Canada.
While we celebrate these new developments, 91资源calls on both the Provincial and Federal governments to take further steps towards the recruitment and retention of Early Childhood Educators. In particular, we continue to call on the Provincial Government to fulfill commitments of a wage grid based on qualifications and experience that acknowledges the complex and vital work that certified Early Childhood Educators do every day with children, families, and communities.
Highlights from today’s announcement include;
- A new Child Care Expansion Loan Program, including $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable grants available to public and not-for-profit child care providers.
- Student loan forgiveness for rural and remote early childhood educators, consisting of a $48 million investment over 4 years.
- An $10 million increase in funding towards early childhood education training over the next 2 years.
- An investment of $69.9 million to create new childcare spaces and support inclusive childcare services in BC.
- The Province of BC also announced that an additional 930 childcare spaces will join the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program this spring.