Ontario early childcare educators are among the lowest paid in Canada—leading to a “perfect storm” amid a workforce shortage, an advocacy group warns.
“The childcare workforce crisis is causing local childcare programs to close rooms and limit enrollment at a time when more parents are hoping to gain access to affordable childcare spaces,” Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care told reporters Tuesday.
According to a position paper by the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, early childhood educators are being paid about $19 an hour. Other childcare staff, about 41 per cent of the workforce, have no wage floor, meaning they adhere to Ontario’s minimum wage.Workers in Yukon and Prince Edward Island are the two top-paying provinces and territories in Canada at $32.08 and $27.11 an hour, respectively.
“It felt like the childcare system was ruining my life and the low wages left me with this impossible decision,” she said. “I left the job I love because I was making $18 an hour and I couldn't afford to take the bus.”The Ontario government, through its $10-a-day child-care deal, agreed to a wage floor of $18 an hour for early childhood educators, which was to be increased by $1 a year up to $25 an hour.
When asked Tuesday afternoon for an update on those wage increases, Lecce would only say that details will be available “soon.”
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