Future of $10 per day childcare up in the air with Sask. yet to accept new federal dollars: CUPE

The NW Regina YMCA Daycare is seen in this file photo. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

The future of $10 per day childcare in Saskatchewan is up in the air, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

CUPE says the Saskatchewan Party Government is one of two administrations in the country to not sign a renewed agreement with Ottawa that would help keep $10 per day childcare a reality until at least 2031.

The federal government announced an additional $36.8 billion to help 11 provinces and territories maintain $10 per day childcare on Thursday.

Along with Saskatchewan, Alberta was the only other province/territory to not reach an agreement with Ottawa, Ontario has an agreement in principle.

“Scott Moe is leaving approximately $1 billion for affordability measures on the table. This decision ultimately hurts families and workers and will certainly hurt the economy,” CUPE said in a news release.

CUPE represents childcare workers at multiple facilities in Saskatchewan. The union says that information from Employment and Social Development Canada estimates annual savings of nearly $7,000 per child since the program was first implemented.

Along with affordable daycare for parents, CUPE says the childcare agreement between the province and Ottawa also provides money for wage-top ups for childcare employees and that if Saskatchewan does not sign an extension to the agreement, many employees will be facing uncertain futures.

“With the threat of the $10 dollar a day childcare and wage enhancements being pulled, childcare workers like me may be facing wage cuts. We need the government to invest in childcare right now,” Michelle Jerg, who is a childcare worker in Yorkton, said in the release.

In an email to CTV News, the province said that it remains ready to negotiate in good faith before the expiration of the current agreement on March 31, 2026.

“An extension to the negotiations should mean listening to operators to make improvements to the agreement so they can be beneficial for children, operators and our government for years to come,” the email read.

The province says a negotiation of an extension must include details such as “inclusion of terms from other Provincial ELCC Agreements and flexibility to address before/after school programs.”

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Saskatchewan has had $10 per day childcare at licensed facilities since April 1, 2023.

The province signed onto the first Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement in August of 2021, a March 2023 news release said.

“Canada cannot go back to making families pay the equivalent of a mortgage payment for childcare,” Trudeau said on Thursday.

The provincial NDP said on Feb. 17, childcare advocates wrote to the province and Education Minister Everett Hindley urging action. “But months later, there’s still no response,” an NDP news release said on Thursday.

Many childcare centres are non-profit organizations that rely on the funding to stay open and support local jobs, especially in rural parts of Saskatchewan, the NDP said.

“Without it, families and entire communities will be left scrambling.”

-With files from The Canadian Press