Newfoundland & Labrador announce Early Learning, Child Care Action Plan

Newfoundland and Labrador – Families across Canada know that affordable child care is not a luxury—it is a necessity. That is why the Government of Canada is working with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to implement a Canada-wide early learning and child care (ELCC) system that will bring fees for regulated child care across the country down to $10-a-day on average by March 2026.

Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, on behalf of Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and Krista Lynn Howell, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Education, announced a three-year action plan to improve and expand early learning and child care services across the province under the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-wide ELCC Agreement and the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador ELCC Agreement. The plan sets a road map for strengthening and expanding the child care sector in the province and improving access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive child care for families.

Over the course of the three-year plan, Newfoundland and Labrador’s ELCC Action Plan 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 outlines spending of more than $280 million in five areas:

Affordability

• More than $136 million towards enhancing affordability of regulated child care services for children aged 0–5. These funds help maintain Newfoundland and Labrador’s $10-a-day fee for regulated child care through the Canada-wide ELCC Agreement.

Access

• Over $43 million towards continuing the creation of 5,895 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026. This will be done through supporting expansion of the Pre-Kindergarten Program and through working with municipalities, not-for-profit and public child care providers to create new regulated child care spaces.

Quality

• More than $92 million towards ongoing support for the Early Childhood Educator wage grid implemented in April 2023, introducing a medical benefits program for Early Childhood Educators working in regulated child care services that participate in the Operating Grant Program, offering training and bursaries to support educators, and continuing the Quality Enhancement Program.

Inclusion

• More than $3 million to continue supporting the Child Care Capacity Initiative which provides funding to expand child care services for underserviced communities, including rural communities, linguistic minority communities, and Indigenous communities.

Administration

• Approximately $8 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting.

The ministers also announced the province’s new Non-Standard Hours of Care trial to support more inclusive child care for the province. Beginning in fall 2024, the initiative will provide funding to family child care services to trial up to 13 hours of extended daytime child care or up to 13 hours of overnight child care.

Newfoundland and Labrador also provided updates on initiatives to support the construction and renovation of over 200 child care spaces for health care workers in St. John’s, Corner Brook, Bonavista, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Wabush. These initiatives are included in the approximate 1,600 child care spaces currently in development across the province, working towards the goal of creating 5,895 new child care spaces by March 2026.

Building a Canada-wide early learning and child care system that works for families in every region of the country is a key part of the Government of Canada’s plan to make life more affordable for families while supporting a strong workforce and growing the economy.