Why training more child-care workers isn't enough to solve the staffing crisis

This article is part of a year-long project by CBC Toronto called "Workers Wanted." It delves into what's happening in the job market in the GTA and around the province, the impact on employers and employees, possible solutions to the labour crunch and how the changing workforce affects our daily lives.

The shortage of early childhood educators (ECEs) that threatens Canada's $10-a-day child-care program cannot be solved simply by expanding training opportunities, according to a range of people working in the sector.

Child-care centres across the country are so short-staffed now that they are turning away parents looking for spots. 

The situation is raising questions about the viability of the federal government's plan to add 250,000 new child-care spaces by 2026, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national program is meant to be in full swing. 

Advocates for child-care workers say improving pay and working conditions is the most crucial ingredient in tackling what some are calling a staffing crisis. 

"While we have billions of dollars going to provinces and to municipalities for child care, the child-care workers who are delivering these programs, they haven't seen anything," said Jess Tomas, a community organizer for the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario. 

In its agreement with the federal government for the child-care program, Ontario set the wage floor for early childhood educators at $18 an hour. 

"One of my colleagues described it as a slap in the face and I think that's pretty accurate," Tomas said in an interview. 

Becoming a registered ECE requires at least two years of post-secondary education, with training in child development. However, compensation has lagged behind that of other sectors that also require a post-secondary diploma because the work of child care is not valued, according to advocates. 

"We are not babysitters," said Maxine Chodorowicz, a registered ECE and supervisor of child care at the West End YMCA in Toronto. 

ECEs "do so much more than just arts and crafts and playing games all day," said Chodorowicz in an interview.

"They really are teachers, and they are using play as a tool to teach young children and help them reach their full potential." 

Data from the College of Early Childhood Educators, the provincial regulatory body, shows the profession is overwhelmingly female-dominated, with women making up 98 per cent of registered ECEs in Ontario. 

The average ECE in the province spends just three years working in child care, according to the regulator.