Early Childhood Educator Workforce Supports Program

Wage top-up funding provides a wage enhancement for certified frontline staff who:

• provide direct childcare, including program supervisors and alternate supervisors (as defined in the Early Learning and Child Care Regulation), as well as people hired in the role of agency coordinators or home visitors/consultants with a licensed family day home agency (as defined in the Family Day Home Standards Manual for Alberta).
  • are certified as a Level 1, 2, or 3 ECE
  • meet the conditions for eligible hours (see the Funding Guide)

Table 1. Wage Top-up Rates

Funding is paid monthly up to a maximum of 181 hours at the following rates.

Table 2. Average employer-paid wages before and after government wage top-up funding

Professional development funding is for certified ECEs who:

• provide direct childcare, including program supervisors and alternate supervisors (as defined in the Early Learning and Child Care Regulation), as well as individuals hired as agency coordinators or home visitors/consultants with a licensed family day home agency (as defined in the Family Day Home Standards Manual for Alberta)
  • are certified as a Level 1, 2 or 3 ECE
  • are a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident of Canada or a temporary resident with a valid work/study permit
  • have worked in a licensed childcare program for at least 720 hours by the date the post-secondary course, workshop or conference was completed (for full details, refer to the Funding Guide)

Table 3. Professional development funding rates (effective September 1, 2021)

Funding for post-secondary coursework and textbooks is available for approved early learning and childcare (ELCC) credit courses from Canadian institutions only.

Funding for workshops and conferences is available for those included in the 2026/27 Approved List of Workshops and Conferences. 

ECEs can obtain training through non-approved post-secondary courses, workshops and conferences at their own cost. These cannot be claimed under this program.

Release time funding is for certified ECEs who:

• are eligible for professional development funding
• have paid for and completed a post-secondary course, workshop or conference that is approved for professional development funding

Table 4. Release time funding rates paid to ECEs

Programs can receive mandatory employer contribution funding for each ECE staff member who receives wage top-up funding, provided the program also makes CPP contributions and pays EI and WCB premiums for that staff member.

Mandatory employer contribution funding is paid at the rate of 9.51% of the wage top-up funding received by the program, approximately representing the program’s required CPP, EI and WCB payroll expenditures related to the wage top-ups.

Read the Funding Guide before applying to learn details about eligibility, the application process and requirements.

A program’s licence holder or a legal representative with signing authority must have an account and log in to the Child Care Licensing Portal (the portal) to request, review and sign the grant agreement.

Information on how to create a new portal account can be found on Submit a monthly claim. If you do not already have an account, read through the instructions on that page, then return here to continue with Step 3.

Once logged in to the portal, follow instructions below to access and sign the grant agreement:

• Child Care Licensing Portal Tip Sheet

Note: This agreement includes funding for wage top-ups, professional development, release time and mandatory employer contributions.

This funding is paid based on monthly hours claimed by the program. Programs must submit a monthly claim identifying staff names, eligible hours worked and employer-paid wage within 60 days of the last calendar day of each month.

Programs will receive payment within 5 to 10 business days, along with a summary statement listing amounts that must be paid to each staff member.

A separate form is required to receive professional development and release time funding. Programs and/or ECEs must fill out the Professional Development Funding Request form and follow the submission instructions.

• Submit receipt of payment and proof of completion.
• To request release time funding along with professional development funding, programs must fill in the relevant section in the form above.
• For post-secondary, submit within three calendar months of completion. 
  • For courses started between January and March 2027, submit within three calendar months of completion or by June 30, 2027, whichever is sooner.
• For workshops and conferences, submit within three calendar months of completion or by March 31, 2027, whichever is sooner.

Note: Fillable PDF forms may not open properly on some mobile devices and web browsers. See the step-by-step guide or contact PDF form technical support.

Programs will receive written notification of approval or an explanation if funding was not approved. Approved funding amounts will be paid as part of the overall deposit when the next monthly claim is processed.