Province working on pay increases for child-care workers as subsidies for families kick in

Richmond, B.C. -

The minister responsible for child care in B.C. reaffirmed that the province is looking at ways to increase wages for early childhood educators, as child-care subsidies kick in.

Additional savings for parents came into effect on Dec. 1, providing some with up to an additional $550 per month, per child.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Richmond Friday to promote the subsidies at a joint news conference with Premier David Eby.

“We hear you when you say it’s getting harder to pay the bills due to inflation,” Trudeau said. “We’re continuing to make child care more affordable across the country, including and starting here in B.C.”

The savings are being welcomed by parents and families, but leading to some concerns about staffing.

Meagan Brame, who owns Saxe Point Daycare in Esquimalt, said it’s “brutal” trying to find staff.

“It’s still hard to get people to realize that this is an amazing field to be in,” Brame said. “It’s not always a job that’s been valued over the years.”

With the wage top-ups offered by the province, the average wage for an early childhood educator is currently $25 to $26 per hour, up from $17 to $18 per hour in 2017, according to Katrina Chen, B.C.'s Minister of State for Child Care.

Chen reaffirmed on Friday that the province is working on pay increases.

“We are looking at a wage grid program that will ensure a minimum wage floor and go up from there, and we will have more news from there once that strategy is developed,” she said.

Chen said the province has approved “about 10,500” spaces for $10-a-day child care, with an aim to reach 12,500 by the end of the year. That’s up from around 6,500 in September.