'Long overdue': Nova Scotia early childhood educators get pay raise

Nova Scotia is raising wages of early childhood educators by about 30 per cent, a pay hike that Education Minister Becky Druhan on Tuesday called "long overdue."

Most of the 2,600 employees in the province's early childhood education sector will get pay raises of about 30 per cent — retroactive to July 4, Druhan told reporters in the Halifax area.

"Early childhood educators do incredible, valuable work, and we are excited to make this significant investment that reflects their importance," Druhan said.

Daycare operators and staff have said the province's child-care network is in a labour crisis, as early childhood educators leave the sector due to the rising cost of living and low wages. Prior to the new pay framework announced Tuesday, the wage floor for early childhood educators was between $15 and $19 per hour, depending on their level of training.

Under the new structure, wages for early childhood educators in their first year of work will increase to between $19.10 and $21.67 per hour. For early childhood educators with five years of experience or more, they will be paid between $21.49 and $24.39 an hour.

The wage increase is part of a transformation — in partnership with the federal government — of the province's daycare sector into a publicly funded network in which fees will be lowered to $10 a day, on average, by 2026. Prior to the July 2021 agreement with Ottawa, many of Nova Scotia's licensed child-care centres were privately run.

Under the wage agreement, the province will pay $65 million annually for daycare staff salaries, up from $25 million. The federal government will cover $35 million a year for the new pay structure.

Christine McLean, a professor in the department of child and youth studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, said in a statement the pay raises will move the province's early child-care sector from a "patchwork" of services to a publicly funded and managed system.

McLean said the new structure "recognizes child care as a common public good and not a market-based service where a parent is 'lucky' to find, afford or access suitable child care."

Officials said the wage scale would be tied to future increases received by the public service, something Druhan said reflects the professionalization of the role and its importance. Although ECEs have also been promised benefits and a retirement plan, the minister said that remains a work in progress.

Education Department officials said the approach to benefits varies widely across the sector depending on the centre, and work continues to standardize what Druhan described as a "patchwork quilt." The minister said an announcement about benefits would come sometime in 2023.

The department also announced a $1.5 million operational support fund for childcare centres experiencing financial troubles. Officials could not say how many centres in the province might need to access that money.