CUPE Saskatchewan calls on Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party to renew the $10-a-day child care agreement with the federal government, as the province has the worst availability of child care spaces in the country.
The findings come from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, an independent non-partisan research institute, who issued their Interim Space Statistics 2024: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada report on July 30. The report identifies only 22,734 available regulated child care spaces for approximately 183,500 children between the ages of 1 and 12.
“The report’s findings are shocking and remind us what we already know: Scott Moe has been missing in action, and now families and workers are paying the price,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Scott Moe is putting Saskatchewan dead last when it comes to child care, and is one of only two premiers who has refused to extend $10-a-day child care.”
If the Sask. Party decides not to renew the federal child care agreement, it will leave over one billion dollars for affordability measures on the table.
“An investment in child care is an investment in workers, our economy, and children — the future of our province,” said Peterson. “Enough dithering. Time for Scott Moe to grab a pen and get this deal inked — today.”