Province freezes early childhood educator wage for 2027

TORONTO — Early childhood educators are getting their wages frozen, roughly one month after the province extended a commitment to affordable childcare in Ontario.

A Nov. 4 media release from the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care said the profession is "reacting with strong concern" following the release of new provincial funding guidelines for 2027. The organizations said ECEs will not receive an expected $1 per hour raise in the new year, maintaining the existing wage floor of $25.86 an hour.

“There is no childcare without ECEs. They work hard every day so parents can go to work knowing that children are safe and learning,” said MPP for Kiiwetinoong, Sol Mamakwa, at Queens Park on Nov. 4.

On Sept. 29, the provincial and federal governments extended the Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement for another four years with the ultimate goal of setting daycare fees to an average of $10 per day.

Ontario’s current average is $19 per day, whereas almost every other province has reached, or is close to the $10 per day goal.

During the Nov. 4 question period, Mamakwa asked Minister of Education Paul Calandra for the wage freeze to be reversed, and for a guarantee that ECEs receive decent and deserved pay, stating that frozen wages “in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis” will not attract or retain workers, lengthening the waitlist for parents.

In his answer, Calandra shifted the blame to the federal government, stating Ottawa is underfunding its part of the Canada-wide early learning program by “billions of dollars.”

“I absolutely agree on the importance of childcare for parents across the province of Ontario,” he said, and added that the Ford government has increased wages by about 40 per cent since first being elected in 2018.

A ministerial meeting is to be held in Manitoba soon to discuss “additional aspects where the federal government has fallen short on its program,” according to Calandra.

Mamakwa countered that education is a provincial responsibility and that blame cannot simply be put on the federal government.

“Early childcare educators are being forced out because of low wages … and parents are paying the price. Some parents might have to make that difficult choice to leave their jobs simply because they can’t get their kids into a daycare,” he said, adding that there are already childcare rooms sitting empty across Ontario.

Also on Nov. 4, advocates spoke at Queens Park about the “devastating provincial policy decision for a sector already struggling to retain workers,” according to a news release from the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

“Every day, we see child care rooms sitting empty and waitlists growing because centres simply cannot keep staff. We hear from educators that while they love the work they do, passion does not pay the bills,” said Amber Straker, executive director for the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario.

“Freezing wage progression will only sharpen Ontario’s child care crisis. It will force even more dedicated educators out of the field in search of higher wages and compensation packages that include benefits and pensions,” she said in the release.

Back in the legislature, Calandra responded to Mamakwa, saying that on top of increasing wages by 40 per cent since 2018, they’ve “brought thousands of additional childcare spaces online.”

“That's why you have seen childcare fees go down substantially year after year after year, because of the work that our government has been doing, not only on our own, but with the federal government through the (Canada-wide early learning and child care) program,” he said.

“That work will continue because you can't have a growing economy if you can’t have proper childcare, and that is why we've been so focused on ensuring that not only are we having more ECEs through our college and private college systems so that they're available to us," he continued.

"But also that we have the spaces that we need to ensure that every parent has access to full, affordable childcare across the province.”

Mamakwa told Newswatch that Ontario must be able to attract and keep workers for childcare in all parts of the province, and that the wage freeze does the opposite.

“They spend millions on ads that do not benefit Ontarians, and I think its important for the government to do more in making sure that all parents have access to affordable childcare,” Mamakwa said.

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Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com.