Excerpt
New Brunswick is partnering with the federal government to bring affordable early learning and child care to the province. On Wednesday, New Brunswick announced a three-year plan to improve and expand early child care and education services.
New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Bill Hogan said the province is grateful for its partnership with the federal government.
“I am proud to witness the remarkable strides made over the past few years to improve New Brunswick's early learning and child-care system,” Hogan said. “We know there is still work to be done and we are committed to continuing to improve learning environments for all our youngest learners."
In a news release(opens in a new tab), the province said the action plan outlines more than $426 million in spending to improve five key areas.
- Affordability: more than $295 million towards average, regulated child-care fees of $10-a-day.
- Access: more than $20 million towards the creation of 3,400 new regulated child-care spots.
- Quality: More than $128.5 million towards ongoing support for early childhood educator (ECE) wages and training.
- Inclusion: More than $30 million to develop an inclusion framework for anglophone and francophone sectors and for diverse and vulnerable communities. $12.4 million to improve accessibility with more than $2.7 million allocated for Indigenous-led efforts to provide services to Indigenous children.
- Reporting and Administration: More than $16 million to build resources within the Government of New Brunswick to support data collection and reporting.
...