Many Sask. childcare operators can’t continue $10-a-day childcare without extension of federal program

WATCH: The provincial NDP says the government’s delay in coming to an agreement on $10 a day childcare could cost Sask. hundreds of spaces.

A recent survey of Saskatchewan childcare operators shows that most respondents feel they will not be able to continue offering $10-per-day childcare if the province does not sign an extension of the program with Ottawa.

The survey, conducted by Child Care Now Saskatchewan and shared by the Opposition NDP on Friday, revealed that more than 77 per cent of respondents feel they would be unable to continue offering $10-a-day childcare.

Child Care Now Saskatchewan says it surveyed around 50 operators across the province in March, with 22 individual or multi-centre organizations responding - which represents 1,526 $10 per day spaces.

The Saskatchewan Government’s current agreement with Ottawa expires March 31, 2026. Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only two provinces without a new agreement to extend the program to 2031. Ontario currently has an agreement in principle.

On Friday, NDP MLA Joan Pratchler said Saskatchewan is facing a childcare crisis and parents need reassurance that they’ll have a place to care for their children in the near future.

Pratchler recently sent a letter to Minister of Education Everett Hindley, indicating that affordable high-quality childcare is being put in a precarious position without a signed deal.

The NDP says that parents, operators and early childhood educators have been calling on the province to get a deal done since the start of 2025.

“There is money on the table, and we need answers as to why they are not signing the extension – the livelihood of every family in Saskatchewan that uses childcare is at stake,” Cara Werner from the Southeast Saskatchewan Directors Association said in a news release.

Cara Steiner, executive director of Prairie Lily Early Learning Centre in Regina, said in the release that without a new federal deal and provincial funding formula, many businesses are not sustainable and will be forced to close.

“Time is up. People are losing patience. Get moving already and sign the thing,” Pratchler said in the release.

Throughout 2025, the provincial government has indicated it plans to sign an agreement with Ottawa to extend the federal program and is ready to negotiate.

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In an emailed statement on Friday the province indicated that it is continuing to call on the federal government to sit down and re-negotiate an extension to the childcare agreement.

“Ministry of Education officials have had ongoing meetings with federal counterparts as part of the current agreement, during which time they have re-affirmed our commitment to signing an extension,” the statement read.

“Education Minister Everett Hindley has also written numerous letters to the previous and now current federal minister to set up a meeting to discuss the extension,” the province said.

The province also feels the NDP simply wants it to sign the offer on the table, adding that the current agreement doesn’t expire until March 2026 and there is room to negotiate a better offer that would benefit Saskatchewan people.

During an interview with CTV Morning Live on April 17, Hindley indicated that the province would be ready to begin negotiations with Ottawa once the April 28 federal election was done.

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In the interview, Hindley said provinces that signed a new agreement early on were now starting to come back to the table to ask questions, and Saskatchewan wanted to prioritize a fair deal over moving quickly to sign.

“You are seeing some of the other provinces now start to come back and say we signed this deal rather quickly back in February and now we want to make some changes,” he said.

Hindley also indicated at the time that the province was presented with an offer from Ottawa in February and given a two-week window to negotiate.

“We said we need to bring forward some concerns that are being brought to our attention by families and childcare operators around the province,” he said.

One of those concerns, according to Hindley, was how Ottawa’s offer to Saskatchewan differed from Manitoba’s.

A main question surrounded Saskatchewan children aging out of the $10 program when they turn six.

“And in Manitoba that is not the case they’ve got a limit of [seven-years-old], so we are saying that’s a commonsense thing we think should be applied here in Saskatchewan, why wouldn’t we negotiate that into the new deal,” Hindley said.

Hindley indicated that the province does not want substantive major changes to the current offer it has, but wanted to ensure any agreement they sign is long-term, sustainable and ensures the addition of more childcare spaces.