Last week, the Government of Canada and the GNWT announced that as of Apr. 1, 2024, the NWT will have reached an average $10-a-day childcare.
Caitlin Cleveland, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, said the number was reached two years ahead of schedule and that it’s important to note that the $10-a-day amount is the average cost around the NWT.
“It means that while some families may pay more than $10 a day, others may pay less than $10 a day. On average though, licensed child care fees across the territory work out to $10 a day,” she said in the legislative assembly on Feb. 22.
That’s because of a combination of free programs and those that charge fees, she added.
But while child care will become cheaper for some, there’s still a long way to go, said Patricia Davison, chair of the NWT Early Childhood Association (NWTECA).
It starts with what ‘average’ really means.
“When I asked about that, I was told that how they came up with that average is they took all of the programs across the NWT and all of the fees that are paid, and they averaged it out,” Davison explained.
The catch is that there are many programs that do not have any family fees being sponsored by Indigenous groups that negotiate funding with the federal government instead, said Davison.
Those programs are of no cost to the families, she added.
“So what that means is there’ll be a number of spaces that will still be charging family fees well above the $10, a day after April 1.”
Davison said that most families who are paying for childcare will be paying more than $10 a day.
“Nothing has really changed for families that I can see in the next month,” she said.
“Maybe they’ll come out with some money, but I think if they were going to do that, they would have made the announcement the same day, right? They’re not going to make a second announcement. ‘Oh, and by the way, we came up with more money,’ right? I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
The future of childcare in the NWT is fragile, Davison added.
“Certain centers are asking themselves daily ‘are we sustainable? Can we keep our doors open? Is this worth it?’,” she said.
She also stressed how hard it is to retain staff with this current dynamic, especially when it comes to wages for workers.
“We’re looking for a community comparable wage,” said Davison. “I’m not talking about just a living wage, because that’s barely scraping by. These are people who look after our future, our children. They’ve gotten educated, they’ve taken training, they have experience, and they have a huge responsibility.”
In a press release sent by the NWT Early Childcare Association, they note that there are few benefits for working in the Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC) sector, despite how essential it is to both their economy and society.
“For every dollar spent in early childhood, there is a savings from between $2.50 to $7 in Health, Education, and Justice,” according to the press release. “Research that factors in the economic benefit, more people in the workforce, and other economic advantages, show the savings are much higher at about $13 per dollar investment.”
Cleveland said when it comes to wages, the GNWT is in talks with the childcare sector on what comes next, including a wage grid, a certification model, and new funding approaches to support licensed operators.
“A wage grid will establish a minimum hourly pay rate for these positions so that no one earns below that threshold,” she said. “It also means that years of experience and education will be recognized.”
As for Davison, she said she’s unsure what the future holds.
“We’re just really fragile right now, so I’m not sure. And then in the next two months, what will happen? I mean, I hear operators saying that they’re going to have to make some tough decisions,” she said.
Davison mentioned the GNWT is the holder of the revenue for early learning and childcare by what she called a pretty good margin.
“They’re the ones who control the revenue for early learning and care. And so hopefully some funds will come out that will make it so programs can be sustainable,” she said.
Davison added the GNWT is still working to come up with those numbers and explain what kind of funds operators are going to have moving forward for April.
“We’re already at the end of February and April 1 is the crunch date. That’s a new fiscal year for everybody. It’s just very fragile right now. And nobody’s sure what’s going to happen.”
—By Devon Tredinnick