Province working on pay increases for child-care workers as subsidies for families kick in
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.