Who’s responsible?
Who to contact
- Ministry of Education, Early Years and Child Care Branch
- Website
- (306) 787-4980
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
In Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Education is responsible for child care, kindergarten and pre-kindergarten services overall.
The Early Years and Child Care Branch of the Ministry of Education is responsible for child care services and pre-kindergarten. The Branch administers the legislation, coordinates service delivery and provides grants to assist developing or operating non-profit centres.
Eleven child care regional offices throughout Saskatchewan help to monitor, license, and provide information to parents.
The Early Years and Child Care Branch is also responsible for the Child Care Subsidy program.
Finding child care
Facts and figures
- There is a regulated space for 9.5% of children aged 0-12 years. (2019)
- There is a centre-based space for 17% of children aged 0-5 years. (2019)
- Several communities offer municipally-delivered or supported child care.
- 2% of regulated child care is for-profit and the rest are non-profit. (2019)
- For-profit centres are not eligible for funding and do not provide subsidized child care.
Families are responsible for finding and obtaining a child care space for their child(ren); there is no universal entitlement to a child care space in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan has an online licensed directory of child care homes and centres, which provides contact information for licensed centres and family child care providers in all 12 regions.
The province has created an online page called How Child Care Works In Saskatchewan to answer frequently asked questions. This page explains the difference between licensed and unlicensed childcare, describes the government’s role in regulating child care, and offers information about child care subsidy (CCS).
For more information, contact the Child Care Regional Office closest to you (contact information can be found at the bottom of the How Child Care Works In Saskatchewan page).
Paying for child care
Families are responsible for paying child care fees.
A 2019 child care fee survey found the full-time, median monthly fees in Regina were $850 for infants, $680 for toddlers, and $620 for preschoolers. In Saskatoon the median monthly fees were $995 for infants, $800 for toddlers, and $740 for preschoolers. The report also includes full-time, median infant and preschooler fees, as well as a breakdown of child care costs in the other 37 largest Canadian cities.
Subsidies
A child care subsidy may be available through the Ministry of Social Services to reduce the fees charged to eligible parents.
Subsidies are paid directly to service providers; they vary on a sliding scale with income — the lower the income, the higher the subsidy. Subsidy rates also vary by age of the child, the type of care provided and by region.
Maximum full-time fee subsidy rates vary from $315 to $570 per month. These usually do not cover the full fee: subsidized parents are responsible for the difference. Parents, even those with a full subsidy, are always required to pay a minimum of 10% of child care fees.
Parents must be employed, enrolled in education or have special health needs to qualify for subsidy.
If parents are on social assistance and involved in employment, training or rehabilitation, the parent portion of regulated care or the community average cost of unregulated care may be subsidized.
Subsidies are available in regulated non-profit child care centres and licensed family child care homes. Parents must secure a child care space before applying for a subsidy.
Accessing subsidies
More information about the child care subsidy program is available online. To apply, complete the form online and mail to Child Care Subsidy, P.O. Box 2405 Station Main, Regina, SK S4P 4L7 or contact the Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services, Child Care Subsidy Office at: 306-787-4114 or 1-800-667-7155.
Regulated child care
In Saskatchewan, only not-for-profit centres are eligible for public funding of any kind. This means parents using a child care subsidy cannot access for-profit centres. However, there are usually no (or very few) for-profit centres, although they are permitted to operate.
In Saskatchewan, child care centres, regulated family child care, school-age child care programs, and teen student support centres/homes (which provide care to parents attending high school) must operate in accordance with the regulations set out in the C-7.3 - Child Care Act (2014) and Chapter C-7.31 Reg. 1 - Child Care Regulations, 2015.
Part-time (operating less than 3 hours a day) centre-based early childhood programs, or preschools (called nursery schools in some regions of Canada) are not required to be licensed in Saskatchewan.
Provincial program consultants, who are required to have an ECE background, work for the Early Learning and Child Care Branch of the Ministry of Education. They develop, license, monitor and consult with both centres and family child care homes. Licensed centres and regulated family child care homes (which are individually licensed in Saskatchewan) are inspected twice a year.
The Saskatchewan Child Care Act and Regulations address a wide range of standards - from mandating parent involvement to the number of hours care may be provided.
A number of regulations related to program quality are highlighted below.
- In Saskatchewan, there are three levels of staff training:
Level I - a 120 hour introductory course provided through a recognized post-secondary educational institution
Level II – a one year early childhood certificate
Level III - a two year early childhood diploma - All staff employed at least 65 hours/month must have the 120 hour introductory course
- 30% of staff a required to be ECE Level II and 20% are required to be ECE Level III in a centre
- Centre directors must have a two year early childhood diploma
- All staff members in each centre must have completed a first aid and CPR course
Regulated family child care
- All providers are required to complete an online information session which provides an overview of licensing requirements, processes and expectations.
- All providers must complete first aid/CPR training, plus six hours of professional development workshops each licensing year.
- Must submit the results of a criminal records search with respect to the applicant and each adult who resides in the premises in which the home will be operated.
- Providers in regular family child care homes must complete a 40 hour introductory early childhood education course within the first year of licensing.
- Providers in group family child care homes have three years to complete the 120 hour orientation course. Assistants require first aid and CPR training plus six hours of professional development each licensing year.
Group family child care (maximum of 12 children with two providers)
- Within three years, providers must complete the 120 hour introductory course (level 1).
- Assistants must have first-aid and CPR training plus six hours of professional development each licensing year.
- Staff:child ratios address the number of staff required per number of children.
- Group size is the number of children, usually of one age group, that stay together throughout the day in a defined group – often a room.
- Family child care homes have a specified number of children by age.
Child care centres may have a maximum of 90 spaces overall, with a maximum of 12 spaces (two groups) for infants.
Child care centres
| Age of child | Staff:child ratio | Max group size |
|---|---|---|
| Infants (6wks – 17mos) | 1:3 | 6 |
| Toddlers (18 - 29mos) | 1:5 | 10 |
| Preschool (30mos - 6yrs) | 1:10 | 20 |
| School age (gr 1-12) | 1:15 | 30 |
- Family child care homes may have a maximum of eight children including provider’s own children under 13 years. There may only be five children under six years and two children under 2.5 years.
- Group family child care homes, which have two providers, may have a maximum of 12 children including the provider’s and assistant’s own children under 13 years. Of the 12 children, only 10 may be younger than six years, of these 10, only five may be younger than 30 months and only three younger than 18 months.
- Teen student support family child care homes (one provider), may have a maximum of six children including the provider’s own children under 13 years.There may be a maximum of four children under six years; or a maximum of three children under 2.5 years of age. If three of the attending children are infants or toddlers, there are no attending children who are preschool children (30 months - under 6 years).
- Service providers in all types of regulated child care in Saskatchewan are required to provide meals that meet “the nutritional needs of the children attending the facility” for children 6 months and older. Parents provide baby food and formula for infants.
- Teen student support centres or teen student support family child care homes are required to provide baby food, but not infant formula.
- Service providers are not required to provide “meals and snacks for a child who requires a special diet or whose parent requests a special diet”.
- Centres must provide a “safe” outdoor play area of seven metres-squared per licensed child care space. At least half the outdoor play area must be adjacent to the centre, and the remainder must be within walking distance of the centre.
- There are no requirements for amount of time spent outdoors.
- The following practices are not permitted in any child care centre or regulated home: corporal punishment, physical, emotional or verbal abuse, denial of necessities, isolation, and inappropriate physical or mechanical restraint.
- Centres and regulated providers are required to develop a written policy with respect to child management and must ensure that all employees and volunteers who provide child care services comply with behavior management policy.
The regulations require some basic health and safety precautions to be met. For example, service providers are required to:
- Have accessible emergency contact information.
- Have and practice an evacuation plan.
- Report “unusual occurrences” (i.e., accident or injury) to the ministry consultant.
- Enforce hygienic diapering procedures and ensure the safe storage and administration of prescription medication.
A curriculum framework, Play and Exploration: Early Learning Program Guide is provided but it is not mandatory for services.
Saskatchewan is unique in that all child care centres are required to have parents involved on a parent advisory committee.
The regulations do not address all aspects of quality. For example, there are no regulations or standards addressing curriculum or pedagogy in child care in Saskatchewan.
Unregulated child care
A family child care home is not required to be regulated if it has eight or fewer children under 13 years, including the caregiver’s own school-aged children. Of the eight children, five may be younger than six years and of these five, only two may be younger than 30 months. In the How Child Care Works In Saskatchewan, all possible combinations are listed in a table.
Part-time preschools (called nursery schools in some regions of Canada) that operate less than 3 hours a day are not required to be licensed in Saskatchewan.
School-age child care programs (solely for children up to, but not including, 16 years of age who have completed kindergarten) located in schools are not required to be regulated.
Children with disabilities
Saskatchewan’s child care Inclusion Program provides various grants to child care facilities to include children with diverse special needs.
The Individual Inclusion Grants are provided to a centre based on the enrolment of an individual child with special needs. A maximum monthly grant of $300 is available to licensed providers in homes or centres.
Enhanced Accessibility Grants are provided monthly to assist with additional costs of including a child with exceptionally high needs, up to $2000/year. Children categorized as having “special needs” must have a referral but not necessarily a diagnosis.
Parents of children with special needs pay the full cost of child care, though having a child with special needs is considered in the subsidy selection process.
See Do you have a child with a disability or special need? for more information on provincial/territorial supports for children with disabilities in child care.