Minister McLean attends national Early Learning and Child Care meeting

Minister Jeanie McLean joined federal, provincial and territorial ministers in Iqaluit, Nunavut this week where discussions focused on the three pillars of the multilateral early childhood educator workforce strategy framework: recruitment, retention and recognition. The Minister shared the Government of Yukon’s work, since implementing universal child care, to recognize and value the work of early childhood educators in the territory.

Across Canada, every jurisdiction is navigating the challenges related to supporting a high-quality early learning and child care system while recruiting and retaining qualified educators. These meetings provide an important forum for each province and territory to share best practices and innovative approaches in how these hurdles can be overcome.

Minister McLean emphasized the work the Yukon has done to highlight the value of early childhood educators and the important contributions they make every day in the lives of the Yukon’s children. Public awareness campaigns promoted the work of early child care educators as skilled and knowledgeable practitioners whose efforts should be respected and valued. At the same time, the Yukon government invested in higher wages and benefits for educators and provided opportunities for professional development. The Yukon’s early childhood educators now make some of the highest wages in the early learning and child care sector in Canada.