Early educators wage enhancement

• How does it work?

Starting this month, Ontario is implementing a wage increase of $1 per hour for eligible child care workers in the licensed child care sector. Another wage increase is set for next year. The Ministry of Education will work with its regional and municipal partners to provide this wage enhancement to eligible front-line child care staff.

• Who is eligible?

Wage enhancement funding will be available to eligible child care program staff working in all licensed child care centres employed as of January 1, 2015, as well as licensed Private Home Day Care (PHDC) home visitors and providers, including:

• Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs)
• Program staff
• Supervisors
• Private home day care visitors
• Private home day care providers

To be eligible for the wage enhancement, centre-based staff must not earn more than $26.27 per hour. An equivalent daily rate has been set for private home day care providers.

Community responses:

• Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario [4]

"Today's announcement is a positive step in the right direction for addressing the long standing workforce issues in regulated child care and we will continue to work closely with provincial and municipal governments to address the need for a comprehensive workforce strategy for the regulated child care sector"

• Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care  [5]

"the government's announcement raises questions about the accountability of funds going to for-profit child care. While all child care workers certainly deserve to be well-compensated, the Ontario government needs to explain how they will ensure that funds provided to for-profit child care will be properly used. This predicament highlights the problem of our continued reliance on a child care market for the provision of child care.

• Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia [6] 

"It's really welcoming to see what's happening in other provinces. Knowing that other governments have committed to working with the workforce and supporting them through wages is a big step and something that we hope to see happening here as well."

News coverage:

• Promised wage hike for Ontario child care workers still far off [7], Toronto Star
• Kathleen Wynne announces pay raise for early childhood educators [8], Toronto Star
• Ontario hikes child care workers' wages [9], Ottawa Citizen 
• YMCA Ottawa applauds pay hike for licensed early childcare educators [10], Metro News
• Child care workers in Guelph and across province to see $1-an-hour raise [11], Guelph Mercury