The government of Prince Edward Island has released its proposed changes to the province’s Early Learning and Child Care Act, including changes to ECE certification titles and an increase in capacities of licensed centres. The consultation process for these changes ended July 19th 2023 and included public consultation sessions and written feedback with the Early Childhood Development Association of PEI and other sector stakeholders participating.
Based on previous feedback from the sector, the PEI government is proposing that the title of Early Childhood Educator be given only to those who hold a two-year diploma or a degree in early childhood education. The proposal would change ECE I to “Early Childhood Intern” and ECE II to “Early Childhood Associate.”
Under the proposed changes, Early Childhood Supervisors and Early Childhood Directors would now also fall under the certification category of Early Childhood Educator. Additional levels of education will still be required for individuals acting as directors in Early Years Centres. All title changes are summarized in the table below.
| Current Regulation | Proposed Change |
|---|---|
| Early Childhood Educator I | Early Childhood Intern (ECI) |
| Early Childhood Educator II | Early Childhood Associate (ECA) |
| Early Childhood Educator III | Early Childhood Educator |
| Early Childhood Supervisor | Early Childhood Educator |
| Early Childhood Director | Early Childhood Educator |
| Family Home Child Care Provider | No change |
| School Age Child Care Provider | No change |
| Inclusion Support Assistant | N/A (Removed) |
The proposed regulatory changes also allow employees working with children to be registered in a first aid course within 2 weeks of employment and to complete it within 8 weeks, as opposed to requiring it immediately.
Other changes include increasing the licensed capacity of a centre from 80 to 125, and increasing the number of infant spaces allowed in one centre from 6 to 12. With the increase in infant spaces allowed in one centre, the regulations now require a centre with more than six infant spaces to have a separate sleeping room and four square metres per child, instead of 3.5 square metres. Ratios will remain the same for all age groups.