‘Educators Matter’ vision and roadmap charts a path to a highly qualified child care workforce
Child Care Now’s National Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Policy Table has released A vision and roadmap for increasing educator qualifications in licensed child care centres (June 2026), a landmark paper from the Educators Matter project shaped by consultations with educators at the October 2025 National Symposium and in facilitated online discussions in early 2026.
The paper lovingly maps out six key employment roles in centre-based programs — early childhood assistants, early childhood educators, inclusion support specialists/resource consultants, pedagogical leaders, staff supervisors and program directors — each with a clear scope of practice, competencies and education pathway.
Its ten-year vision would see 80–100% of the workforce holding ECE post-secondary qualifications or equivalent, with early childhood educators holding four-year degrees and assistants two-year diplomas, and a mid-way target of 60–70% by year five.
To make that climb achievable, the roadmap recommends convening a federal workforce council and provincial/territorial workforce tables, aligning wage grids with rising qualifications, and funding tuition, paid study time and replacement staff so educators can learn while they earn — grounded in the reminder that educators’ working conditions are children’s learning environments.
Source: Child Care Now, National ELCC Workforce Policy Table — A vision and roadmap for increasing educator qualifications in licensed child care centres (also available as a PDF)
