Officials hope that will change as the landmark federal-provincial strategy picks up steam.
Part of the plan includes halving child care costs for kids aged six and younger in Saskatchewan by the end of the year, which the province has accomplished through generous refunds to parents with kids in licensed homes. “One of the reasons we’re looking to target those people is we know they’re already providing a service to families,” said Samantha Ecarnot, the provincial Ministry of Education’s director of child care operations. “So if we can help make life more affordable for those Saskatchewan families as well, that’s really important for us.”Article content
“It’s difficult for me to speak to why somebody may or may not come into the licensed fold at this point.” “It’s not that it’s not a good idea to try and license some of the unlicensed providers … but I think the majority of the work needs to be coming up with a labour force strategy,” Delanoy said.