Child care advocates in the province are reacting to a recent government update on the Early Learning and Child Care Action Plan. They say progress is too slow for families in need of care. 

Last week Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell provided an update on what actions government is taking, to address staffing, and early learning child care spaces in the province.

Neria Aylward of Child Care NL now says, there was a lot more the group would have liked to see progress on, and provided these details in a news release.

• In March 2021, there were 8,042 regulated child care spaces in NL (Beach et al. 2023). As per the Minister’s announcement, there are now 8,300 regulated child care spaces in NL. That’s just 258 more spaces in two years. If the overall provincial target is to get to 14,000 spaces by 2025/2026, these numbers do not look promising. 
• The Pre-Kindergarten Pilot Program is operating at only 18 sites and reaching only 340 children across Newfoundland and Labrador.Based on birth statistics, the Pre-K Program is only reaching approximately 9% of 4-year-olds. By contrast, 97% of eligible children are enrolled in Kindergarten. When factoring $10-a-day fees and transportation costs for parents, it is clear that the Pre-K Pilot is not a program for all children. 
• The provincial government tells us that over 100 Early Childhood Educators have joined the workforce. We know that in the same time period many ECEs have left the sector due to low pay, a lack of benefits, and poor working conditions. Recruitment of ECEs is meaningless without retention. 
• We welcome the francophone bonus for ECEs working in francophone childcare centers. We urge the provincial government to create a bonus for other underserved communities, including rural and Indigenous communities. 

We do not need a “parent portal” to assess demand for childcare. Research shows that with universal child care, 95-98% of children will enroll. The provincial government must act now to support the workforce and create high-quality, regulated child care spaces. Parents and young children cannot wait.