PROVINCE BOOSTS NUMBER OF CHILD CARE SPACES IN REGINA

The Government of Saskatchewan is boosting the number of child care spaces available in Regina this year by 41 as part of the province's Child Care Saskatchewan initiative. Seventeen of the new spaces will go to the Albert Park Child Care, 14 to the Twenty Four Hour Child Care Co-op, and 10 to the Scott Collegiate Infant Care Centre. This increases the total number of licensed child care centre spaces in Regina to 1,885.

Across the province, the government is spending $1.8 million to create 500 newly funded child care spaces this year as the first step of the plan that will create 1,200 new spaces during the next four years.

"The new child care spaces increase access to quality and affordable child care while parents go to school or work," Community Resources and Employment Minister Glenn Hagel said. "Child Care Saskatchewan helps our children get a good start in life and ensures a future that is wide open to opportunity, a future that is wide open to anyone prepared to dream big, plan well and work hard."

Child Care Saskatchewan is a $3 million program with $2.2 million coming from the Government of Saskatchewan and $800,000 in funding from the Government of Canada. Other initiatives supported by the program include $1 million in funding to increase child care subsidies by $20 per month and a $200,000 increase in Early Childhood Services grant funding to address wage and human resource requirements in licensed child care facilities.

The Government of Saskatchewan is spending $22 million this year to support approximately 7,900 child care spaces in Saskatchewan.

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For More Information, Contact:

Herman Hulshof Community Resources and Employment Regina Phone: (306)787-0916 Email: hhulshof@dcre.gov.sk.ca Cell: (306)536-1479