Section 2: Ongoing Opportunities and Challenges for Regulated Child Care (Child Care Act)

Recent Initiatives

Over the past two years, the provincial government has put increased focus on the early learning and child care sector, taking measures to support parents and child care service providers. These measures included:

• In October 2020, announced [4]$25 per day child care [5] under the Operating Grant Program (effective January 2021), with a focus on affordability for all parents with children in regulated child care settings.
   
• In November 2020, introduced changes to provide family home child care providers access to the $25 per day Operating Grant program which was launched in January 2021.
   
• Also in November 2020, introduced the Casual Caregiver Pilot Program [6], which allows child care centres, particularly those in areas where recruitment is a larger issue, to hire a temporary employee on a short-term basis to replace staff who are absent.
   
• In recognition of staffing challenges in the Labrador region, in January 2021 introduced an additional 15 per cent “escalator” [7]  [8] [7]for regulated child care service providers participating in the Operating Grant Program in that region, provided that the additional money is all spent on compensation for staff.
   
• In July 2021, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador introduced an Early Learning and Child Care Quality Enhancement Program to enhance quality in regulated child care services through consultation regarding program design, learning processes, interactions with children and their families, and enhancements to physical environments. A quality enhancement grant is available to participants in the program.

Looking forward, the Provincial Government is in discussions with the Government of Canada on its recently announced $30 billion investment into enhancing child care across the country. Government will be seeking to prioritize quality, affordability, and access through the province’s portion of this funding.