Apply now

A local perspective on the crisislevel shortage of qualified daycare workers

Chelseaite Laura Fowler Massie, pictured here with two-year-old Julian, worked as an early childhood educator for more than two decades and has been teaching future educators for the last 17 years. Photo BY MADELINE KERR MADELINE@LOWDOWNONLINE.COM

There is a crisis-level shortage of qualified Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) in Quebec, but according to CEGEP professor Laura Fowler Massie, something is being done to change that.

As recently reported by the Low Down, many parents in the Hills are grappling with a serious lack of available childcare. Some local daycare waiting lists are in the hundreds, the result of too few places and far too few qualified ECEs to meet the community’s needs.

But hope may be on the horizon: Fowler Massie, a Chelsea resident who teaches early childhood education at Heritage College recently told the Low Down that the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry for Families have created programs and incentives to attract more people to the profession.

This is part of Quebec’s push, announced in 2022, to recruit or retain 25,000 ECEs across the province by 2026. The government has put $295 million toward providing incentives, including a 6.6 per cent boost in pay for retirees and up to $475 a week for unemployed people to begin their training.

Another incentive, according to Fowler Massie, is a scholarship program for students who enroll in an ECE training program, like the one offered at Heritage College, which offers $9,000 over three years to trainees to get through their studies.

After completing training, however, Fowler Massie admitted that being an ECE still doesn’t pay very well.

“But that’s changing,” she said. “The public isn’t generallyaware, but things are improving – especially in the not-for-profit sector because it’s government regulated, and there is a payscale” that employees can climb relatively quickly, she explained.Fowler Massie said she believes this crisis can be solved through better remuneration.

For a qualified ECE employed at a government-funded centre de la petite enfance (CPE,) the rate of pay begins around $21.62 an hour. For-profit daycare centres often pay even less, according to Fowler Massie, and typically cannot include benefits or a competitive payscale.

One reason for the generally low rate of pay is that the profession has been historically undervalued, Fowler Massie explained.

“This is patriarchal; it’s because[being an ECE] is a gendered job; it’s often women doing this work,” and it’s wrongly thought of as “something that anyone can just do.”

She pointed out that ECE training is highly specialized, and the socialemotional learning that educators provide is “paramount to children’s success later in life.”

Fowler Massie said that in her decades of experience, the perception of ECE work has shifted “a little bit, but not as much as it should.” She said she’s hopeful that the incentives by the ministries of labour and families will help.

She said she also wants to get the word out that training to become an ECE opens many other doors: “There are so many opportunities, it isn’t just about working in a daycare. Because of the labour shortage in our profession, close to 100 per cent of students secure employment upon or before graduation, not just in childcare…but many go on to be classroom aids or work at parenting resources centres. A lot of our graduates also go on to workat forest schools.”

A three-year diploma in early childhood education from Heritage College allows a graduate to work anywhere in Canada. Students are also able to transfer their CEGEP credits to universities like Bishop’s, Carleton or Ottawa and earn a teaching or psychology degree.

The provincial governmenthas created a fast-track program to allow some trainees to be jobready in a year or 18 months, although they will still need to work for three years in Quebecbefore they can enter the same pay scale as employees that hold a three-year diploma.

In 2021, Ottawa pledged $30 billion in order to create 250,000 affordable daycare spots by 2026 – to date, 97,000 spaces, or 40 per cent of the goal, have been made.

“The provincial governmenthas created a fast-track program to allow some trainees to be jobready in a year or 18 months, although they will still need to work for three years in Quebecbefore they can enter the same pay scale as employees that hold a three-year diploma.

In 2021, Ottawa pledged $30 billion in order to create 250,000 affordable daycare spots by 2026 – to date, 97,000 spaces, or 40 per cent of the goal, have been made.

“The provincial government has also been opening spaces, which excites parents, and… this is all good news, but ultimately… we also have to contend with the staffing crisis,” Fowler Massie said.

“It’s heart-wrenching sometimes because I get emails from locals who are struggling to find childcare and they want to know if I have any leads,” she said.

Fowler Massie added she’s doing her part by getting the word out that “this is a great profession” and that prospects are gradually starting to improve.

She added there are still some spots available for fall enrollment in Heritage College’s ECE diploma program. To find out more, visit https://www.cegep-heritage.qc.ca/ and search “early childhood education”.

“There are so many opportunities, it isn’t just about working in a daycare. Because of the labour shortage in our profession, close to 100 per cent of students secure employment upon or before graduation, not just in childcare… but many go on to be classroom aids or work at parenting resources centres. A lot of our graduates also go on to work at forest schools.” – Laura Fowler Massie

“It’s heart-wrenching sometimes because I get emails from locals who are struggling to find childcare and they want to know if I have any leads.” – Laura Fowler Massie