The childcare workforce
Who staffs Canada's childcare centres, and where they're short of people. Official figures, shown as published.
Open the province-by-province workforce dashboard →Spaces per educator is a staffing indicator, not the legal ratio in a room: it covers all program types and only educators receiving BC's wage enhancement.
British Columbia: educators over time
Up 159% since 2018-09. Seasonally adjusted monthly count.
British Columbia: licensed spaces per educator
Falling means more educators for each space.
Staffing and funding by province
| Province | Centres with $10-a-day funding (2024) | Hired qualified staff (2023) | Lost staff who quit (2023) | Vacant position (April 2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 71.0% | 61.6% | 44.0% | 27.0% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 76.6% | 75.3% | 36.9% | 20.0% |
| Prince Edward Island | 57.5% | 76.9% | 26.7% | 19.4% |
| Nova Scotia | 95.6% | 77.5% | 44.1% | 14.3% |
| New Brunswick | 63.7% | 61.5% | 38.0% | 19.5% |
| Quebec | not published | 63.7% | 44.4% | 33.8% |
| Ontario | 89.5% | 50.3% | 45.9% | 22.3% |
| Manitoba | 80.7% | 48.2% | 34.1% | 26.3% |
| Saskatchewan | 76.0% | 65.4% | 42.6% | 34.0% |
| Alberta | 74.7% | 79.8% | 50.5% | 34.3% |
| British Columbia | 24.9% | 66.4% | 39.5% | 19.6% |
Staffing columns are the share of centres, for staff with sufficient early childhood education training.
Wages
See wage trends for the occupation group that includes educators on the workforce dashboard. No official open dataset publishes educator-only wages over time yet. BC's file counts educators receiving its wage enhancement, not what they earn, so we show headcount instead of guessing pay.
Sources
- Child care providers receiving CWELCC funding Statistics Canada (Table 42-10-0081) · 2024 · Yearly
- Population estimates on July 1, by age Statistics Canada (Table 17-10-0005) · 2026 · Yearly
- BC Child Care Facilities and Spaces Over Time Government of British Columbia · April 2018 – June 2026 · Monthly
- BC Early Childhood Educators and Facilities under Wage Enhancement Government of British Columbia · September 2018 – May 2026 · Monthly
- Centre-based providers: hires, departures and vacant positions, 2023–April 2024 Statistics Canada (Table 42-10-0080) · 2024 · Occasional survey
More figures: Childcare in Canada, by the numbers.