Childcare – Administrative penalties

Overview

Alberta’s government is responsible for overseeing the childcare sector and ensuring provincial standards are followed. Issuing administrative penalties is one of several enforcement tools used to make sure children are healthy, safe and thriving in childcare settings.

Penalties may be issued for any violation of the Early Learning and Child Care Act, the Regulation, the Family Day Home Standards, or any term or condition of a licence or certification.

Penalties can be issued to:

• facility-based licence holders
• licensed family day home agencies
• facility and home-based certified early childhood educators
• unlicensed childcare providers

Administrative penalties are intended to promote compliance and encourage high-quality care. They may result from continued non-compliance or where a significant risk is posed to children.

This public policy statement outlines Alberta’s approach to using administrative penalties. It includes information on:

• who can receive a penalty
• when penalties will be used
• how penalty amounts will be calculated
• how penalties can be paid or appealed

Find a penalty

A public listing of administrative penalties is available online through the Administrative Penalties Lookup Tool. It displays all paid penalties, as well as unpaid penalties that were not appealed. Penalties that are undergoing appeal, administrative review or an alternative dispute resolution are not included.

Find an administrative penalty

Pay a penalty

If you have received a notice of administrative penalty and wish to pay, you can visit the administrative penalty payment portal. You will need your penalty ID number, which is located on your Notice of Administrative Penalty.

Penalties can be paid using credit card, VISA and MasterCard debit, or ApplePay. Multiple payments are accepted, but each payment must be a minimum of $100. The full penalty amount must be paid by the payment due date.

Pay online

Appeal a penalty

An administrative penalty can be appealed by the person who received it. For information about your appeal options, visit Appeal a decision.