The proportion of registered early childhood educators (RECEs) in Ontario child-care centers is dropping, raising concerns about the province's progress towards its target of 60% RECEs under the national $10-a-day child-care system.
The percentage of registered early childhood educators (RECEs) working in Ontario child-care centres has been decreasing over the past few years. This trend moves the province further away from one of its goals in the national $10-a-day child-care system. A recent Ministry of Education report reveals that while the total number of RECEs in Ontario child-care programs has increased, the number of non-ECE staff has grown at a faster rate.
In 2022, when Ontario joined the national program aimed at lowering fees for parents and expanding care availability, 58.9% of full-time staff in child-care programs were RECEs – close to the 60% target agreed upon by Ontario with the federal government. Alana Powell, executive director of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, stated that recruitment is a challenge, but retention poses a much bigger problem. She emphasized that RECEs have been voicing concerns about wages and working conditions for years, citing them as the primary reasons for leaving the sector. When RECEs leave the workforce, their decisions are most often based on wages and total compensation, including access to extended health benefits, dental and vision care, RRSP or pension program opportunities. Ontario has implemented a wage floor for RECEs, set at $24.86 an hour in 2025. However, advocates and some operators argue that wages need to be higher, along with a wage grid, pensions, and benefits to effectively address recruitment and retention issues. The ministry’s 2024 annual report shows that the total number of full-time RECEs in Ontario child-care programs increased by 3,488 since March 31, 2022, while the number of non-RECE staff rose by 4,426 during the same period
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