March 12, 2026
Child care advocates say early childhood educators in Newfoundland and Labrador cannot wait four more years for a pension plan. Comments made by the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development in the House of Assembly yesterday suggested that an ECE pension is part of the government’s four year plan.
“ECEs can’t wait,” says Meredith Loveys, of Child Care Now NL. “Poor compensation is driving educators out of the field right now. Without competitive wages and benefits, we will continue to lose the educators that children and families rely on.”
At the same time, the recently circulated Operating Grant Program manual for child care centres contains no wage increases for ECEs, leaving many educators concerned about when meaningful improvements will actually arrive.
The retention of educators is critical to support high quality, inclusive, accessible, and affordable early learning and child care programs. 92% of children in Newfoundland and Labrador continue to live in areas where child care access is inadequate, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Other provinces, including Nova Scotia, have already introduced pension programs for ECEs.
During the election campaign, Tony Wakeham promised to support early childhood educators, including a costed commitment to an ECE pension plan.
Child Care Now NL is calling on Government to:
● Create a defined benefit pension plan for early childhood educators (ECEs).
● Allocate new funding to enhance the ECE Wage Grid and ELCC Medical Benefits Plan.
● Introduce 10 mandatory paid sick days for ECEs in the Operating Grant Program.
Learn more about Child Care Now NL here.