Education
Background
A higher proportion of centre-based ECE's and assistants have a post-secondary credential
compared to Canada's overall working population:
- 67% of centre-based ECEs and assistants have a post-secondary credential
- 46% of home-based ECEs and assistants have a post-secondary credential
About 53% of Canada's overall working population have a post-secondary credential.
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Credentials by province: To review the education credentials of centre-based
and home-based child care workers by provinces/territories, click on
credentials
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Education makes a difference
Education raises income. On average, centre-based staff in Canada earn:
- $17,000 a year (no post-secondary education)
- $22,500 a year (certificate or diploma)
- $25,800 a year (bachelor's degree)
The challenge
Despite higher education levels, the income of those who work in child care is much
lower than the national average and turnover in the sector is high.
Almost half of those who graduate with an ECE credential are no longer working in
the field two years later.
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Many leave: According to the National Graduate Survey, only
55% of ECE students graduating in 1995 were working as child care educators
and assistants just two years later. By 2000, the proportion had dropped to 43%.
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Low wages and difficult working conditions prompt many with post-secondary education
to avoid entering the sector or to leave it. As older workers prepare to retire in significant
numbers, recruiting and retaining a younger, trained workforce are major challenges for the sector.
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Many plan to leave: Only 55% of the ECE students surveyed as part of the
labour market update study Working for Change planned to work in regulated child care in
five years. Only about half of focus group participants saw themselves working in child
care upon graduation. The others said they would seek work in family child care, as school
teachers or in some other capacity with children.
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For more detailed information, see:
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