Renewed Saskatchewan child care agreement paves way for accelerated expansion of for-profit child care
Saskatchewan’s Minister of Education has confirmed in comments to the media that the recently announced Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) funding agreement with the federal government will allow the province to use federal funds to bolster the for-profit child care sector in the province, something not permitted in the previous funding agreement set to expire on March 31, 2026.
“Child Care Now joins parents and the Saskatchewan child care sector in welcoming the signing of an agreement that keeps the daily parent fee for licensed child care at $10.00 and that extends the low fee to children who turn six until they complete their school year,” says Executive Director Morna Ballantyne.
“But we are alarmed that the terms of the agreement also allow precious public resources to be diverted to profit-making.”
Ballantyne says that while only 4% of full day centre spaces in Saskatchewan are for-profit, the number of for-profit centres in the province has grown significantly. According to the 2023 ECEC in Canada report, published by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, the for-profit sector accounts for 22 per cent of the increase in full-day child care centre spaces for children 0-5.
“The funding agreement with Saskatchewan goes against the federal government’s promise to use public funds to build a primarily not-for-profit system of early learning and child care–an objective set out in the federal government’s own child care legislation,” said Ballantyne.
The five-year agreement provides $1.6 billion over five years with base funding for programs to increase by three per cent each year starting in 2027-2028. A five-year action plan setting out how the money will be spent has yet to be negotiated. Child Care Now calls on Saskatchewan, along with the rest of the provinces and territories who have signed extension agreements, to publicly release their respective agreements and associated action plans.
Child care advocates in Saskatchewan are calling for immediate action to sufficiently fund non-profit operators who have been struggling to meet rising costs and properly compensate those who work in programs.
“The child care sector and advocates have developed a roadmap for building a high quality universally accessible system of child care that includes the development with the sector of a provincial wage grid and compensation system to attract and retain qualified early childhood educators. The Saskatchewan government must move to put it in place in order to properly support families, educators and programs in the province,” said Ballantyne.
Saskatchewan is the second last province or territory to extend their ELCC agreement with the federal government, and Alberta remains left to sign a new agreement. Ontario signed a one year extension in November 2025.