Wage top-up for early childhood educators extended to those with 1-year diplomas

Early childhood educators in New Brunswick with one-year diplomas will now qualify for the 75-cent hourly wage increase announced last week, says Education Minister Dominic Cardy.

The increase was initially only being offered to those with a two-year college diploma or bachelor's degree, which left out hundreds of workers who had one year of training but many years of experience.

"This is the happiest moment I've had since I became minister," said Cardy, announcing the government's about-face on the issue on Wednesday.

It comes after angry daycare operators from across the province gathered in Moncton last Friday, arguing many workers would not qualify if one-year programs weren't considered recognized training.

"After lots of discussions over the last week, we're going to be able to extend the 75-cent increase for all early childhood education workers who have a single-year diploma," Cardy said.

"So that's a significant increase in the number of folks who are going to be affected, and we're really pleased about that because it's an undervalued sector.

"They do critical work, and I think this will really help to make things better in that sector, make it easier for them to attract and retain workers."

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development had previously said more than 1,000 educators could qualify for the wage increase in 2019-20 with the two years of training requirement.

Early Childhood Care and Education New Brunswick, the association that represents the sector, had estimated fewer than 500 educators would qualify.

There are about 4,800 educators provincewide.

Cardy could not immediately say how much extending the wage top-up will cost but did say he anticipates it will be more than double previous estimates.

Asked how the department was able to scrounge up the extra money, he replied, "Hard work."