August 26, 2021 | British Columbia

On August 13, 2021, the Government of Canada announced a four-year funding program of $272 million to the province of British Columbia to improve access to high-quality, affordable, and inclusive early learning and child care programs and services. In addition, the Government of Canada is making a one-time investment of $48.8 million during 2021-22 to support British Columbia’s early childhood educator recruitment and retention efforts.

“Early childhood educators are the heart of our child care system and we can't improve access to affordable, quality and inclusive child care for BC families without them,” says Katrina Chen, BC’s Minister of State for Child Care. “This additional investment from the Government of Canada will build on the progress we've already made through our Childcare BC plan to create an inclusive universal child care system with a well-supported early learning and child care workforce.”

According to the Government of Canada, early childhood educators (ECEs) are critical to high-quality child care, so the funding is to ensure ECEs are well-supported and able to further their professional goals in the industry. This funding will also help to improve access to ECE training programs, provide bursaries to hundreds of ECE students, and provide additional incentives to early learning professionals to join the sector and upgrade their skills.

In addition to the federal government four-year funding agreement, the ECE Education Support Fund (ECE ESF) is available for ECE students to apply to and receive funding for a number of recognized ECE post-secondary programs. These funding streams are designed to increase the number of students entering, re-establishing and graduating from recognized ECE programs, such as one of CDI College’s ECE programs. Information for the Fall 2021 bursary program will soon be available here.

What does this mean for you? Now is a great time to enroll in one of our Early Childhood Education programs and launch a new career as an early childhood educator, daycare owner or operator, preschool teacher, or other early learning profession! For a limited time only, CDI College is also providing a $2,500 entrance scholarship* for anyone who enrolls in an early childhood education program before September 30. Learn more about CDI College’s early childhood education programs and fill in the Request Info Form to speak with an admissions representative.

*Some conditions apply.