Inclusion support workers at early learning and child-care facilities will receive an increase in hourly wages, matching their compensation with early childhood educators.
This is in recognition of inclusive learning practices and to support equal opportunities for every child.
Trained Inclusion workers with the one-year Early Childhood Education certificate or equivalent, will see their salaries rise to $23.47 per hour.
Hourly wages for untrained inclusion support workers will see wages increase to $16.90. These will take effect on August 1st.
To help support the overall workforce strategy for the early learning and child-care sector, the department has contracted the Restigouche Community Business Development Corporation to hold job fairs in the coming weeks along with sector associations and operators to help facilities recruit qualified early learning staff and attract other professionals to the sector.
“The recruitment and retention of qualified early childhood educators have often presented challenges for operators in creating new spaces at facilities,” said Education Minister Dominic Cardy. “Our workforce strategy aims to promote the profession and provide valuable resources to operators that can assist them in growing their businesses and providing high-quality early learning and child care to our children.”
These initiatives supporting the workforce strategy are made available through the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which provides a federal investment of almost $492 million, plus over $48.1 million through the extension of the Canada-New Brunswick Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and the one-time investment of $9.2 million in 2021-22 to support New Brunswick’s early childhood educator recruitment and retention efforts.
In addition to the federal contribution, the provincial government is contributing $53 million over the course of the agreement, which builds on the more than $70 million invested annually in the province’s early learning and child-care sector.
