February 16, 2024
Excerpt: "Over the course of the three-year plan, Nova Scotia鈥檚 Canada-wide ELCC Action Plan 2023鈥2024 to 2025鈥2026 outlines spending of more than $440 million in five areas: Affordability - More than $285 million towards the goal of achieving regulated child care fees of $10-a-day average by March 31, 2026. The Government of Nova Scotia has already reduced child care fees by an average of 50% as of December 2022 saving families up to $6,000 per year, per child. When combined with the Child Care Subsidy Program, this resulted in more than 3,000 families having access to free child care; Access - $52 million towards the creation of 9,500 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026. In Nova Scotia, 3,861 new spaces have already been created as of December 31, 2023; Quality - More than $105 million toward an early childhood educator (ECE) compensation framework, including ongoing support for the ECE wage grid introduced in November 2022, and implementing retirement and health benefits for all ECEs and ELCC workers in the regulated sector; Inclusion - More than $30 million to implement an inclusive early learning and child care strategy that focuses on respect for diversity and strives for equity, inclusion and accessibility across the child care system; as well as continuing to support inclusion measures for diverse and vulnerable communities, including children with additional needs. Nova Scotia is committed to creating inclusive spaces to support diverse and vulnerable children and families, including children with disabilities and children needing enhanced or individual supports, Indigenous children, Black and other racialized children, children of newcomers, and official language minorities; Administration - $23 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada鈥揘ova Scotia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources within the Government of Nova Scotia to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting."