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By Sarah Jones

Provincial Politics

Early childhood educators to receive wage top-up in 2023

Dec 2, 2022 | 1:26 PM

Early childhood educators (ECEs) are set to receive some additional support in the new year.

The provincial government says it’s focused on attracting more ECEs and keeping them in the childcare sector by providing monetary incentives.

As a result, the existing wage top-ups for all paid hours will increase by up to two dollars per hour as of January 1, 2023.

ECEs who worked from October through December 2022 are also eligible for a one-time payment on top of the wage top-up.

Those who worked an average of 30 hours plus per week can receive a one-time payment of $900, whereas individuals with less than 30 hours per week are entitled to a $450 one-time payment.

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This funding is represented both by the provincial and federal governments, which have invested over $174 million for both the one-time payment and wage top-up until the end of the fiscal year in 2025-26.

Minister of Children’s Services, Mickey Amery said in a release, “The Government of Alberta supports parental choice in childcare and the workers who help provide it.”

“This announcement will help retain staff who are currently caring for our children, and attract new workers in child care,” added Amery. “Because every dollar matters, this one-time payment will provide affordability relief for these hardworking Albertans heading into Christmas and the new year.”

To entice more individuals to start a career in childcare, the governments of Alberta and Canada more than doubled enrollment capacity for the free Level 1 childcare orientation course in Alberta.

Both federal and provincial governments say these changes will create more opportunities to support the ECE workforce.

Federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould explained, “We could not build our Canada-wide early learning and child-care system without the dedicated workforce of early childhood educators.”

She went on, “The Government of Canada is committed to supporting early childhood educators and the announcement in Alberta, including significant federal funding, is an essential step in ensuring the work of these professional educators is valued.”

Additional funding has also been made available for ECEs to access free early childhood brain science and development training and mental health training workshops.

“Today’s announcement shows that advocacy works, but there’s still so much more to be done,” said Bradley Lafortune, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “While a one-time payment and wage top-up is welcome news, low wages and inadequate employee benefits, including pensions, will continue to drive people, mostly women, out of the child care field.”

“The provincial government must establish a salary grid with competitive wages and benefits,” added Lafortune. “Anything less is a band-aid and won’t solve the workforce challenges we’re seeing.”

Learn more about early childhood education in Alberta on the Alberta Government website.

(With files from rdnewsNOW)