Updates are coming within the next month from the department of education on the accessibility of daycare in the province.

Currently, regulated childcare in the province costs $15 per day. That cost is decreasing further in January 2023 to $10 per day.

Education Minister Tom Osborne says with the decreased costs there has been an increase in demand for childcare spaces.

He says a long term plan is in place to help deal with that, which involves the College of the North Atlantic opening up “hundreds” of spaces for the training of more early childhood educators across the province. He notes some of that has already begun, such as with spaces in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

In the short term, Osborne says the plan involves plans for pre-kindergarten.

He says an announcement will be coming in early March. He says opening pre-kindergarten spaces will in turn open more daycare spaces for kids up to four years old.

In addition to pre-kindergarten and the creation of new spaces at CNA, Osborne says the department is also working on the retention of ECEs.

He says they are working on a wage grid for workers that will see the wages of many ECEs increase. An update on that is also coming next month.