Sask. provides funding for new regulated child care centers and youth mental health

Saskatchewan has met its $10-a-day daycare goal, but is lagging behind demand for childcare spaces. To address that, the provincial and federal governments announced 2,349 new regulated child care spaces across Saskatchewan on Friday.

It's been more than two years since the federal and Saskatchewan governments signed the Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, committing to a $10 per day price cap for regulated child care in the province.

As part of the agreement, Saskatchewan committed to creating 28,000 new regulated early learning and child care spaces within five years. With the recent expansion of 2,349 spaces, the total number of spaces added since August 2021 is approximately 5,700, the province said.

The money for the new spaces will be allocated to the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan government and 50 other organizations in 41 communities to either build new facilities or expand existing ones. The province plans to allocate almost 400 additional funded places through an application process.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said there were challenges to meeting this need for childcare places.

“Child care has been largely unregulated in the province,” Cockrill said. “As only licensed spaces are eligible for funding under this agreement, there is a process in place to attempt to convert some of these unlicensed spaces into licensed spaces. It’s like building a plane while flying it in the air.”

Cockrill said hiring more people to staff those spaces has also been a challenge.

“We have a growing province. As a ministry, we have strengthened the early childhood educator salary increase subsidy as a recruitment and retention strategy,” he said.

In a joint announcement Friday, the provincial and federal governments announced 2,349 new regulated child care spaces across Saskatchewan. (Submitted by CBC News)

Glen McCallum, president of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S), was present at Friday's announcement. He said providing culturally safe spaces for Métis children in their early years is critical.

The story goes on

“We know from various studies and our history that children who grow up with their identity, culture, language and values ​​have greater opportunities to thrive,” McCallum said.

MN-S is actively acquiring land in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Regina for 90-space daycare centers in each of those cities.

Funding for these initiatives comes through the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which will inject nearly $1.1 billion into child care in Saskatchewan over five years. The province has allocated $23.5 million for the 2,349 regulated spaces announced Friday.

The province is allocating $1.7 million for mental health resources

Meanwhile, Moose Jaw is the latest in a list of 13 communities to expand its rapid access counseling to children and youth as part of a new $1.7 million provincial fund.

Moose Jaw Family Services has hired an additional staff member because of the new funding and hopes to speed up counseling, said Executive Director Tara Jones.

Jones said she expects to be able to help up to 20 children per week by increasing staff.

“It will definitely reduce waiting times. It also allows families who are in crisis or need an urgent situation to see someone quickly,” she said.

In a Statistics Canada study published in 2021, almost one in five Canadians aged 12 and over surveyed said they needed help with their mental health. About 45 percent of those surveyed said their needs were either not met or were only partially met.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, wait times for community mental health counseling are longer in some jurisdictions for children and adolescents aged 18 and under compared to adults.

For all ages, the average wait time across Canada is 22 days. For Saskatchewan it is 12 days.

Under the rapid access program, Jones said the organization should be able to reduce wait times to under a week.

She said there is a shortage of mental health professionals across the country, but any additional help locally can be life-saving.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Tim McLeod stressed the importance of quickly offering counseling to children in need.

A 2019 report from the Saskatchewan Alliance for Youth and Community Well-being said 23.4 per cent of youth in seventh to 12th grades had considered suicide in the past year.

“We know that time is of the essence when speaking to someone when you are struggling with your mental health,” McLeod said.