REGINA — Both the federal and provincial governments have announced funding for new child care spaces at a number of post-secondary institutions in the province.
The two levels of government are contributing $10.8 million to develop new child care centres at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Northlands College.
There will be 450 new child care spaces created at Saskatchewan Polytechnic campuses in Regina, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and the new Saskatoon campus. Ninety additional spaces will be created at Northlands College in La Ronge.
The funding is through the ELCC Infrastructure Fund, which is part of the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide ELCC Agreement.
According to the province’s news release, the centres will provide on-campus child care for students, faculty and staff, and also serve as training sites for students pursuing careers in early childhood education. Thirty per cent of the spaces will be reserved for families facing barriers to access, including children with disabilities.
Federal Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger and Saskatchewan’s Minister of Education Everett Hindley attended the announcement in Regina on Wednesday, along with Sask Polytech president Dr. Larry Rosia and Northlands College president Michael McCormick.
Hindley called the expansion of child care spaces “critical.”
“We're trying to, and working very hard as provincial government to make sure that wherever we can, that we can expand and create more child care spaces across this province. And this is a perfect fit.
"I think it provides that opportunity for students, who are engaging in the post-secondary education sector. They might be coming here to take their ECE training, to be an early childhood educator. They might be going to a post-secondary institution to train in another field, and this provides that support for students who maybe do have kids. They've got a family, and I think this can help them with their career path, with their training that they are taking, and I think it just means that much more to the communities that they live and work in, and where they raise those families.”
Belanger said, “this is all connected from my perspective as I view how the daycare support program is important. Today we make this announcement in tribute to some of the work that Sask Polytech is doing in terms of creating careers for many, many Saskatchewan people in a variety of fields.”
He said these supports “all add up” to strengthening families, building the economy and creating a future for children.
With both levels of government present at the announcement, questions were raised about the status of the national child care agreement with Saskatchewan, which expires March 31, 2026. Saskatchewan is one of two provinces yet to sign an extension, but Belanger expressed confidence a deal will be reached.
“As we move forward in some of these negotiations with the provincial government on the $10 daycare issue and any other project that's connected to what we're trying to do here, obviously negotiations are underway ... and I can assure you by the 2026 we'll have a new agreement in place. I'm fairly confident of that,” Belanger said.
He added Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu is leading the file. “We stay in constant communication with her office to make sure that Saskatchewan's interests are maintained, that they're protected … I’m sure we'll come up with a good deal for Saskatchewan and for all of Canada.”
Hindley said Saskatchewan “remains committed to get back to sit down with the federal government to renegotiate the next version of that agreement.”
“This has had significant benefits to families and to child-care operators right across our province. We've seen it in other provinces as well, but we think there's an opportunity to make some changes there, and that's why we want to be able to sit down … to make sure that it's a long-term sustainable agreement for families, for child-care operators around the province.”
Hindley added the province remains “willing and ready to renegotiate that deal at any time” and to have those discussions “as soon as possible to make sure that we sign that extension and get it in place for child-care operators and for families right across this province.”
