Alberta's early childhood educators propose new wage grid tied to education, experience

Alberta's early childhood educators propose new wage grid tied to education, experience

Alberta’s system of topping up employer wages out of step with practices in most other provinces

Three years after first proposing a wage scale for Alberta's early childhood educators (ECEs), the non-profit, member-based organization advocating for the 30,000 educators who staff child-care centres is proposing another wage scale in hopes of convincing the province to change how they are paid.

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) released the latest proposed wage scale in May. The organization says the proposed wages are now based on the average hourly rate for workers in other service sector occupations that require similar education levels and responsibilities.

Wages in the proposed grid are higher than what Alberta’s ECEs are currently paid, and increase as workers get more experience.

AECEA executive director Mary-Frances Smith said this type of pay framework can help stabilize the workforce, which is plagued by high turnover rates.

“People can see themselves on it. They can see themselves in a career. They can see themselves staying,” Smith said in an interview with CBC News.

“Because we know when somebody feels valued, they stay. And is this a piece of an educator feeling valued? We think so.”

Higher pay urged for Alberta early childhood educators as space expansion underway

The scale lays out proposed hourly wages for all levels of ECEs in Alberta from a Level 1 educator who has taken the orientation course to a Level 3 educator with a university degree. Wages for each level increase in seven steps as the educator gains more experience.

The scale also lays out higher wages for educators who work as supervisors and directors of child-care facilities.

Under the province’s current pay structure, the provincial government supplements the hourly wage paid by child-care facilities.

For example, the current average hourly wage for a Level 1 ECE is $20.21 an hour and the government pays an extra $2.64 an hour on top of the $17.57 an hour paid by the employer. The amount is below the living wage for most areas of the province.

On average, a Level 2 ECE in Alberta earns $23.75 an hour with the top-up. A Level 3 educator earns $29.70 an hour with the government top-up. Wages do not increase with years of experience, but that can depend on the employer.

Proposed wages would increase with experience

In comparison, under the proposed wage scale, a Level 1 ECE who has taken the basic orientation course would start at $20.08 an hour but could earn $24.04 an hour once they reach Step 7 on the wage scale.

A Level 1 ECE enrolled in a certificate program would start at $22.82 an hour on the proposed grid, but could earn $27.32 an hour when they reach top rate.

A Level 2 ECE with a certificate would start at $26.47 an hour, topping out at $31.69 an hour.

Wages for a Level 3 ECE with a diploma would start at $31.94 an hour, reaching a top rate of $38.25 an hour.

Wages for Level 3 ECEs with a degree, as well as supervisors and directors, follow the seven-year scale.

The AECEA’s report says that as of December 2025, 41 per cent of Alberta child-care staff were Level 1 ECEs, and 43 per cent were at Level 3. Level 2 ECEs make up the remaining 16 per cent of the ECE workforce.

The report notes that access to pensions and health and dental benefits depends on the employer. In provinces such as Nova Scotia, ECEs now have access to a government-funded benefit plan that moves with them if they change employers.

According to the report, the majority of Canada’s provinces and territories have adopted or will adopt a wage scale. Alberta and Ontario remain the only holdouts.

The AECEA estimates that implementing the wage scale would cost about $1.7 billion a year, an increase of around 20 to 25 per cent.

When asked about the wage scale, a spokesperson for Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides sent CBC News a written statement that didn’t suggest any willingness to look at the AECEA’s proposal.

“There is more than one way to address recruitment and retention challenges, especially since provinces structure their child-care systems differently, with widely varying populations, average family incomes, workforce requirements, labour market conditions and certification frameworks,” Elizabeth Harper said in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.

“This approach is delivering results. Since November 2021, Alberta's early childhood educator workforce has grown from 18,100 to 34,300 as of March 2026, an increase of 90 per cent.”

While the workforce may have grown, the AECEA’s report notes that its research actually found that people aren’t staying as they can gain access to benefits and better working conditions by working as educational assistants or in other “caring” professions.

“Early childhood educators’ low wages reflect the undervaluing of learning and care work with very young children, which is viewed as ‘women’s work’ that ‘comes naturally’ and does not require specialized knowledge or skills,” the report states.

“The predominantly female make-up of the workforce, which has remained unchanged for decades, has perpetuated this bias.

“Simply put, early learning and care work, like other female-dominated fields, remains undervalued compared to male-dominated occupations that require similar levels of education, skills and knowledge, because it is viewed as ‘women’s work’ and has a lower market value.”

The report says Alberta will continue to have problems recruiting and retaining ECEs until the pay structure improves.

In Prince Edward Island, the starting wage of $29.15 an hour for an ECE with two years experience is closest to the average hourly wage of all workers when compared to all Canadian provinces.

Alberta’s ECE wage for workers with a two-year diploma is only 63 per cent of the average hourly wage for all workers in the province, which puts it in a tie for last place with British Columbia.

The report credits P.E.I.’s higher wage and publicly funded benefit plans with improvements in how staff are recruited and retained in that province’s child-care centres.

“It has been transformational for P.E.I.,” said Jennifer Nangreaves, executive director of the Early Childhood Development Association (ECDA) of PEI.

“Having competitive wages really stopped a mass exodus that we were seeing from our sector.”

While P.E.I. first instituted a wage grid in 2010, Nangreaves said the workforce situation improved when the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements were implemented.

“It has been transformational for P.E.I.,” she said.

Salaries up for P.E.I. early childhood educators — and fees down for parents

Nangreaves said educators in her province were leaving to earn more as educational assistants in schools. She said higher wages encouraged people to come back.

The ECDA’s research found that in 2019, half of workers who left child care said low wages were the main factor that prompted them to leave child-care work. That number dropped to just two per cent in 2024, Nangreaves said.

Whether the wage grid can work in Alberta is an open question.

Krystal Churcher, a child-care operator who is also the executive director of the Association of Canadian Early Learning Programs, said she questions whether the amount of funding required to increase wages is sustainable.

In an interview with CBC News, Churcher said she supports better wages for child care. However, she said the AECEA wage grid leaves her with many unanswered questions, mainly about who will pay for the increases and how.

“A wage grid isn't a funding model,” Churcher said. “It's a great promise to educators. I feel like it's a little bit of hope, maybe a bit misleading. … There's no road map.”

If federal funding ends, Churcher said she wonders if the Alberta government will be expected to pick up the entire tab or if salary increases will be funded by fees paid by families.

Churcher noted that operators are limited in what income they can generate as their fees are frozen.

The AECEA report acknowledges that implementing a new wage scale would require more funding from the Alberta government. In the case of Indigenous communities, the report says local governments should take the lead.

As for human resources, Churcher acknowledged that veteran educators have quit, leaving thousands of newcomers without mentors. She said Alberta’s government has reduced the amount of professional training that was previously available to ECEs.

While wages are a factor, Churcher said burnout is a common reason people leave.

She said she has long advocated for reforms to the system, which includes income testing so funding is directed to families who really need it the most.

Instead of funding spaces, Churcher said she wants a return to a system where subsidies are directed to families who can then choose a daycare that works best for their children.

Michelle Bellefontaine covers the Alberta legislature for CBC News in Edmonton. She has also worked as a reporter in the Maritimes and in northern Canada.