Long list of Sask. childcare organizations call for province to extend $10-a-day agreement

Sask. organizations are calling for the province to extend its $10-a-day childcare agreement with Ottawa.

Organizations are pushing the Government of Saskatchewan to extend its $10 per day childcare deal with Ottawa before its current agreement expires in March.

Kelsey Morrison, board chair of The Prairie Playhouse Early Learning Centre, said volunteers in the village of Sedley fought hard to offer childcare to families in the rural community.

“People before me started that fight in my community over a decade ago. A group of about 12 of us parents continued that fight, and we were finally granted spaces in November of 2023,” Morrison told reporters outside the legislative building Monday morning.

“From the time you’re awarded childcare spaces to opening. There’s a lot of work involved, a lot of volunteer hours, and it costs a lot of money.”

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She added that countless hours of volunteering and fundraising went into the centre being able to open its doors in July – offering daycare to 30 children. However, the community is still fighting to provide services at a lower cost for families almost two years later.

“There’s so many benefits to childcare in our communities and now to know that all of that hard work has gone unnoticed and could literally be lost if this government doesn’t get a deal. It’s heartbreaking to think about,” Morrison expressed.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Saskatchewan said federal funding is needed to increase workers wage tops-ups to $8.50 an hour, along with providing families access to affordable daycare.

“Centers will lose funding they rely on to keep their doors open. Many childcare centers will close. This means childcare workers lose their jobs and parents lose their childcare spaces,” CUPE president Kent Peterson explained.

“Parents who do manage to keep a space will see their childcare fees skyrocket … Without an agreement many childcare workers will fall back to earning minimum wage.”

Child Care Now Saskatchewan also echoed the union’s call for action, emphasizing that Saskatchewan is one of two provinces in the country that has yet to renew a federal funding agreement – with Alberta being the other.

“We have had enough, we need to hear more from the minister,” voiced Child Care Now Saskatchewan chair Sue Delanoy.

“Sign the deal and don’t add for-profit to the mix, if you’re waiting to do that. Not-for-profit, publicly funded childcare is what we need. It’s what we have already in Saskatchewan. Expansion needs to happen or our families and children will be at risk.”

In a statement to CTV News, the provincial government said its confident a new agreement will be signed prior to the current agreement expiring in March 2026.

“We have reached out to the federal government multiple times to sit down and negotiate an extension to the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement,” read the statement.

“Ministry of Education officials continue to engage with their federal counterparts, during which time they are re-affirming Saskatchewan’s commitment to signing an extension and Education Minister Everett Hindley has also written several letters to the previous and now current federal minister to set up a meeting to discuss the extension.”