The following statement was read in the House of Assembly today by the Honourable Krista Lynn Howell, Minister of Education:

I rise in this honourable house to provide an update on the work we are doing to increase access to early learning and child care.

Our government was pleased to sign on to the extension of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. This extension will provide continued federal funding to support $10-a-day child care until 2031.

Five years ago, there were no child care and early learning spaces operating at $10-a-day. Today, there are more than 11,200.

Work is underway to increase child care for health care professionals, with one child care centre in St. John’s dedicated to providing child care for health care professionals. In addition, there are child care centres in St. John’s, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Wabush that prioritize spaces for health care workers based on need.

We have introduced medical benefits to support the professionalization of the early learning workforce. There are also thousands of parents using the Early Learning Gateway, and we are continuously adding features such as a substitute list for early childhood educators that is available to all regulated child care services.

We are making great progress increasing affordable early learning and child care spaces. We will continue this work so that all children and families are able to access the early learning and child care services they need while contributing to an inclusive and thriving province.

Thank you.