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Apply for wage top-up, professional development and release time funding to support certified Early Childhood Educators.
Federal-provincial child care agreement
On November 15, 2021, the Alberta and federal governments announced an agreement to reduce child care fees by an average of 50% in early 2022 and to provide $10 per day fees, on average, by 2026. Learn more about this historic agreement.
COVID-19 update
Child care operators should continue following applicable COVID guidelines and public health orders issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health. Guidance is now available for Licensed Child Care Centres and Family Day Homes.
Licensed daycare, out-of-school care and preschool programs, as well as licensed family day home agencies can apply for grant funding to support the recruitment, retention and professional development of their certified educators. Available supports include wage top-up, professional development funding and release time grant funding.
Read the Alberta Child Care Grant Funding Guide to see if you are eligible and learn about the process to apply for wage top-up, professional development and release time grant funding.
This funding provides licensed child care programs with a wage top-up for certified Early Childhood Educators over and above the base wage paid by the employer. Staff must be paid at least minimum wage before the wage top-up.
The wage top-up grant provides a wage enhancement for certified frontline staff who:
Table 1. Funding is paid monthly up to a maximum of 181 hours at the following rates
Early Childhood Educator certification level | Average employer-paid wage (average as of January 2022) | Wage top-up rate | Average wage (with wage top-up) |
---|---|---|---|
Level 1 Early Childhood Educator | $16.75 | $2.14 | $18.89 |
Level 2 Early Childhood Educator | $17.87 | $4.05 | $21.92 |
Level 3 Early Childhood Educator | $19.55 | $6.62 | $26.17 |
This funding is provided to licensed child care programs to assist with the costs of approved post-secondary tuition and textbooks, as well as approved conferences or workshops for their eligible educators certified as Level 1, 2, or 3 Early Childhood Educator.
To receive professional development funding, you need to submit a Professional Development Funding Request form (PDF, 121 KB).
PDF form issues
Fillable PDF forms do not open properly on some mobile devices and web browsers. To fill in and save the form:
Professional development grant funding is intended for staff who are paid employees of licensed child care programs, as well as family day home program educators working under licensed family day home agencies, who:
Table 2. Professional development funding rates (effective September 1, 2021)
Professional development type | Funding rate per Early Childhood Educator |
---|---|
Post secondary courses | Up to $1,500 per year |
Workshops and conferences | Up to $500 per year |
The Paid Release Time Grant provides licensed child care programs with funding that allows their certified educators to be paid while studying, completing post-secondary coursework, and attending workshops or conferences that have been approved for professional development funding.
The grant will apply only to those courses, workshops and conferences that take place on or after September 1, 2021.
This grant is for Early Childhood Educators who are paid employees of licensed child care programs or family day home program educators working under licensed family day home agencies who:
To receive the paid release time grant, you need to fill out the relevant section in the Professional Development Funding Request form (PDF, 121 KB).
Table 3. Rate of payment to program per Early Childhood Educator.
Professional development type | Payment to Early Childhood Educator | Payment to program to offset wage related expenses |
---|---|---|
Post secondary courses | $800 per course | $60 per course |
Workshops and conferences | $17.50 per hour (up to 45 hours per year) | $1.33 per hour (up to 45 hours) |
Details about eligibility, application process and requirements are included in the Alberta Child Care Grant Funding Guide. Read the guide before applying.
Download to your computer or print the Grant Application for Wage Top-ups and Professional Development (PDF, 104 KB).
Save a copy of the grant application form for your records. Then send it using one of the following methods:
After submitting a grant application, programs will receive written notification confirming their eligibility. If a program has been confirmed as eligible to access funding, a grant agreement will be provided to the program’s authorized representative for review and signature. The funding will be considered approved for a program only when the grant agreement has been signed by both parties.
All programs must sign a Grant Agreement to receive wage top-up and professional development funding.
Wage top-ups will be paid every month based on the hours claimed by the program.
Professional development and release time grants will be paid based on an approved Professional Development Funding Request as part of the overall child care program deposit when the next monthly claim is processed.
After the grant agreement has been signed by both parties, programs will have to submit an online claim after each month to receive wage top-up funding and professional development payments.
Find out more about the online child care claims system.
Every year, the Government of Alberta audits a sample of child care programs that received grant funding. The auditing team identified these top issues for the 2019-20 fiscal year:
Connect with the Alberta Child Care Grant Funding Program:
Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-422-1119
Toll free: 1-800-661-9754
Email: [email protected]
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