On August 17, 2010 Julie Skaftfeld, President of the Manitoba Child Care Association Inc., wrote to the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce regarding the MCC’s 2010-2011 Resolution “Shortage of Childcare”. The full contents of that letter are set out bellow. To find out more about this Resolution click here.

Mr. Graham Starmer, President

Manitoba Chambers of Commerce

227 Portage Avenue

Winnipeg, Manitoba

R3B 2A6

Dear Mr. Starmer:

2010 Julie Skaftfeld, President of the Manitoba Child Care Association Inc.

The Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA) has recently become aware of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce resolution called “Shortage of Childcare” which says:   

“That the Government of Manitoba, in consultation with key stakeholders, develop and implement a strategy over the next 12 months to increase the number of accessible and affordable childcare spaces and modify staff requirements to enable such spaces in the province.”

There is a significant need for more accessible and affordable child care spaces in Manitoba.  There are 113,700 children ages 0 – 12 years with mothers in the paid labour force in our province (Statistics Canada, 2007) and 28,336 licensed child care spaces.  (Department of Family Services, 2008/09)   Clearly the gap between supply and demand is such that many parents are unable to find child care and therefore cannot seek employment, accept employment, return to work after maternity leave, or enter training programs.   Our country’s sagging birthrate combined with an aging population is a landmine that will be felt by the business community as the baby boomers begin to retire in droves.    Access to affordable, accessible, high quality child care services are essential to keep Manitobans working. 

In order to increase child care spaces, there must be a supply of Early Childhood Educators and Child Care Assistants available to provide the child care.   Unfortunately, there is a serious shortage of Early Childhood Educators, which means existing child care programs have a difficult time recruiting trained employees required by the Community Child Care Standards Act.  Newly licensed spaces will be similarly challenged particularly those in rural and remote locations.   In some rural communities, employers report they cannot find anyone willing to work in the child care centre and some spaces kept vacant. 

MCCA is very concerned the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce has recommended a modification to staff requirements.  MCCA does not support a modification to staff requirements, inclusive of reducing the amount of training required of ECEs, increasing the number of children each caregiver is responsible for, or  increasing maximum group sizes, (often regarded as the “iron triangle” for child care quality) as a strategy to enable faster expansion of spaces.   The job of the ECE in the 21st century is far greater than “babysitting”, it requires comprehensive knowledge, skills, and abilities.  Therefore, in most Canadian provinces, including Manitoba, the basic ECE credential is a two year community college diploma.  Several provinces are now integrating child care into the education system and degree options are becoming available.   

A child  in full time non-parental care from 12 months to age 5 will spend the majority of their waking hours outside the home under the supervision of caregivers during a very important time in human development.  The quality of the care, nurturing, warm and responsive interactions and learning opportunities children experience….. matters….. for the present and into the future.     

Ensuring the health, safety, and well being for groups of infants, preschoolers, and school-agers, whether in a centre or a family child care home, requires knowledge of child development and how to positively guide children’s behavior.   Recent research into neuroscience has identified that the years prior to school entry are the most critical for brain development and healthy child outcomes.  Children lucky to get a space in a high quality child care program that employs skilled ECEs will benefit from  age appropriate learning experiences that promote each child’s physical, language, emotional, cognitive, and creative development and lay the foundation children need to be successful in school, to attend post-secondary education, to graduate, and enter the workforce.   

I have enclosed several resources for your information including a brochure developed by the Canadian Council on Learning that explains why high quality childcare is essential for healthy child outcomes, as well as the role that trained caregivers play in ensuring quality; a brief from the Council for Early Child Development that outlines how early brain development affects lifelong health, learning, and behavior; and a summary of the scope of the job of the Early Childhood Educator, published by the Child Care Human Resources Sector Council.  

We don’t have a child care workforce shortage in Manitoba because the training requirements are too high.  Enrollment in the ECE diploma training programs has remained steady over the past decade, and there have been an increasing number of graduates each year even though the field has a long standing reputation for low wages.   Child care can be a very rewarding and fulfilling job, but the expectations and responsibility of meeting individual needs while also being alert to the entire group is enormous.  Unfortunately, too few  make child care their  career and so the average ECE now leaves the field within the first 5 years after graduation. Manitoba employers report the most common reason why they can’t recruit ECEs is because wages are too low.  (Child Care Human Resources Sector Council, 2009)

The child care system has historically relied on the altruism and good will of women to work for low wages and subsidize the cost of the child care to parents and to the Government.   Younger workers of today are no longer willing or able to “wait”, and know that their ECE credential is worth more outside of child care, specifically the education system where wages are competitive and annual increases the norm rather than the exception, and   the work hours shorter.   And that’s where they go. 

Although the Government of Manitoba has a commendable Five Year Agenda for Early Learning and Child Care, the plan will not fix the primary problem that drives many ECEs out of child care and into other occupations, specifically child care programs do not have the revenue to pay competitive wages.   For example, based on an analysis of the knowledge, skills and abilities required, People First HR Services has recommended an annual competitive salary range for an ECE in 2009 as $33,681- $42,101  and for a Child Care Assistant as  $21,590-$26,988.  Child care facilities report their salary ranges are two – three years behind competitive rates. 

The Government of Manitoba controls both the maximum fee facilities can charge parents as well as the operating grant they provide to eligible facilities.   Facilities need approximately 20-25% more revenue annually to pay competitive wages to their employees.  The Government of Manitoba will provide a 0% revenue increase to facilities for 2010-2011.

A simple and quick solution to the workforce shortage is for the Government of Manitoba to boost funding to the child care programs so they can offer competitive wages and attract back all those who already have an ECE credential.  At the same time, the ECEs currently in the system  will be more likely to make child care their career,  children/families will benefit by having  consistent caregivers, and new spaces can be developed because there will be trained  staff available to work in them.   Unfortunately, funding to support competitive wages is not part of the Five Year Agenda.

In closing, I reiterate that MCCA will not support any modification to staff requirements, inclusive of reducing the amount of training required of ECEs, increasing the number of children in a group or increasing maximum group sizes, whether in a licensed child care centre or family child care home.   We believe that the youngest and the most vulnerable – whether our children, our elderly, our sick, our disabled should have the best, the brightest, and the most skilled caregivers, teachers, healers with time to provide lots of personal care and attention.   Training is not the place where one should look to reduce standards, to cut corners, to make do.  I am certain that the parents of the thousands of  children ages 3 months – 12 years currently enrolled in licensed child care facilities, who rely on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of Early Childhood Educators to nurture, care for, keep safe,  teach and guide their children  would agree.  

I hope you will re-consider your recommendation, join with us to urge the Government of Manitoba to fix their funding policies so ECEs can earn competitive wages and benefits, and become a profession that attracts and retains knowledgeable, trained, respected, valued men and women.   

Sincerely, 

Julie Skaftfeld, President 

Manitoba Child Care Association Inc. 

[The letter also contained enclosures from the Council for Early Childhood Development, that information can be accessed here, and the Canadian Council on Learning, that information can be accessed here.] 

About the Manitoba Child Care Association Inc.: 

The Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA) is a non-profit, membership-funded, non-partisan organization incorporated in 1974. Our mission is to advocate for a quality system of child care, to advance early childhood education as a profession, and to provide services to our members.

MCCA’s vision is to promote and support an exceptional early learning and child care system by fueling our members to be proud and excited to belong to a progressive, respected profession.

Our membership of more than 3800 includes early childhood educators, child care assistants, licenced family child care providers, centre administrators,  the parents who volunteer on the boards of directors/parent advisory committees of their children’s programs, academics, students and other advocates for children. 

To find out more about the MCCA click here.