The federal and provincial governments have announced a combined investment of $71.3 million which will allocate over 5,000 child care spaces across the province over 2024-25.
This is part of the ongoing funding that has paid for child care spaces across the province, beginning in 2023.
The province says that so far 1,537 of these child care spaces have been allocated to new child care facilities or added to existing facilities in 27 Saskatchewan communities and 36 organizations.
The province will seek to add the remaining 3,463 spaces throughout the rest of the fiscal year.
"This investment will create more opportunities for families to find accessible and high-quality child care in their local communities," said Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill. "Expanding child care facilities throughout the province will be an addition to supporting the wellbeing for Saskatchewan families."
The province will also increase the amount of funding given for a number of child care costs for providers.
Space development capital funding for centre development is increasing from $10,000 per space to $13,360 in 2024-25. Funding for start-up grants for regulated centres is also increasing from $861 per space to $1,360 in 2024-25. The start-up grant for regulated family child care homes will also see an increase of $200.
"More than 5,000 child care spots will make a real difference for families across Saskatchewan," Canada's Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Jenna Sudds said. "This is an important step that will ensure more kids can get off waitlists and into high-quality centres, and provide more families with access to affordable early learning and child care in their communities."
The province will be allocating funding for the creation of regulated child care spaces throughout the year to not-for-profit organizations including cooperatives, municipalities, non-profit corporations, and parent groups.
The province will be approving these spaces based on community needs and how ready each organization is to move into the development stage.