Saskatchewan

Excerpted from event website:

Moderated by Jen Budney, Research Associate, Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, this panel will feature:

Morna Ballantyne, Executive Director, Child Care Now

Colleen Christopherson-Cote, expert in community social-economic development

Haizhen Mou, Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS)

Vonnie Francis, Director of Children’s Programs and Initiatives, Federation of Sovereign Indian Nations (FSIN)

In August 2021, the federal and provincial governments announced an agreement that aims to dramatically lower costs and increase access to quality, licensed child care in Saskatchewan by 2025-26.

The Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement will see $1.1 billion transferred to Saskatchewan to increase the number of regulated child care spaces, support inclusive programming for children with special needs, work collaboratively with First Nations and Métis partners, and develop and implement a wage grid and invest in training opportunities to build a qualified work force for the child care system.

For many families, along with child care professionals, the Agreement was a cause for celebration. But the challenges to successful policy implementation are formidable.  

Join us to hear from a distinguished panel that will discuss the pathway to successful policy implementation — and its many challenges.