Ontario ECEs among lowest paid in Canada, advocates say

Advocates say that early childhood educators in Ontario are among the lowest paid in the country, and say that raising their wages is critical to the success of the $10-a-day child-care program.

Part of the agreement that Ontario signed with the federal government in joining the national program was setting a wage floor of $18 an hour in 2022 and increasing it by $1 a year up to $25.

The Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care say in a policy paper today that the current rate of $19 an hour makes the effective minimum wage the third lowest in the country.

The advocates say that many centres across the province are limiting enrolment or closing rooms because of a staffing shortage primarily driven by the low wages.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he will be releasing a workforce strategy this fall that will include a boost to compensation, though he would not say by how much.

The two groups are calling for a salary scale of at least $30 to $40 an hour for registered ECEs and at least $25 an hour for non-ECE staff, who are about 40 per cent of the workers in licensed child care.

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Ontario to boost early childhood educator wages in bid to ease staff shortage