A provincial state of emergency remains in effect due to numerous wildfires.
For wildfire related information, call the 24-hour info line at 310-4455 (available in 200+ languages) or visit alberta.ca/emergency.
A provincial state of emergency remains in effect due to numerous wildfires.
For wildfire related information, call the 24-hour info line at 310-4455 (available in 200+ languages) or visit alberta.ca/emergency.
How to apply to become a family day home educator and access the associated support and resources.
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.
If you have questions about finding or choosing child care and other options, call Child Care Connect toll free at 1-844-644-5165.
This service is available in more than 100 languages.
Under the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Regulation, licensed family day home agencies recruit and train family day home educators who then offer child care from their home. These programs can offer child care for up to 6 children (not including their own) in their home.
Licensed agencies help by offering family day home program educators a network for training, resources and assistance. Agencies provide assurance to parents using family day homes by monitoring each home to ensure they are meeting health, safety and program quality standards for children in their care as prescribed under the Family Day Home Standards and the act.
Family day home agencies employ consultants to work closely with both family day home educators and parents to support the safety and well-being of children in their educators’ care. Agency staff are certified at minimum as a Level 2 Early Childhood Educator. They are responsible for recruiting, training and monitoring family day home educators for compliance to the family day home standards.
Agency consultants help family day home educators to:
See the list of licensed family day home agencies (PDF, 234 KB), or use our online Child Care Lookup to find a licensed family day home agency near you.
As a family day home program educator, you:
You will need to provide the following documents:
Licensed family day home agencies hold contracts with a Children’s Services office to administer the family day home service in their local area. A licensed family day home agency will take you through the steps to become a family day home educator.
To find a licensed family day home agency in your area:
Licensed family day home agencies are required to monitor all family day home program educators under their agency at least 6 times per year with both scheduled and unscheduled visits.
Agency consultants use a standard Government of Alberta checklist (PDF, 186 KB) to ensure adherence to the family day home standards.
Unlicensed child care programs can provide child care for up to 6 children – not including their own – at any given time. Unlicensed providers are not monitored by the Alberta government or licensed agencies. Examples of unlicensed care include:
Find a checklist and learn more about Providing child care in your home.
There are networks and support groups that can provide resources, direction and support such as Embolden Private Dayhome Community.
Under the act, the Alberta government can investigate complaints about private, unlicensed child care providers when there is reason to believe that:
If either of these is confirmed, Children’s Services will issue and enforce a stop order. In this situation, parents of the children in the unlicensed program will be notified of the stop order.
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