New Ontario Minimum Wage Increase for ECEs Starting in 2024

Last Updated On 19 November 2023, 11:47 AM EST (Toronto Time)

The provincial government announces a new Ontario minimum wage increase of $3.86 per hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) beginning in 2024.

On November 16, 2023, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce announced a rise in the starting hourly minimum wage for RECEs from $20 to $23.86.

This new increase in the Ontario minimum wage for beginner RECEs makes their pay match the new Ontario living wages in all the provincial regions, except for the Greater Toronto Area.

The government of Ontario unveiled a comprehensive strategy to boost the child care workforce and protect children with five new strategies starting in 2024, as listed below:

• Increasing the beginning wage for RECEs employed by child care operators engaged in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system from $20/hour to $23.86/hour
• Extending the eligibility limit for a $1/hour raise to allow more RECEs to benefit
• Assisting in admission into the profession and career advancement
• Employers will benefit from reduced red tape and greater flexibility in staffing their programs.
• Launching a public relations campaign to raise awareness and value of the child care profession

In Ontario, there are currently over 5,500 licensed child care centres, 145 licensed home child care organizations, and over 473,000 licensed places.

This is good news for individuals in Canada looking for a career as an early childhood educator.

This salary rise builds on the province’s measures, which included the implementation in 2022 of a new wage floor for RECEs working in settings participating in the CWELCC system, as well as yearly $1/hour wage increases beginning in 2023.

The announcement builds on Ontario’s leadership, which has already delivered on a slew of commitments to Ontario families through the CWELCC system.

This includes a 50% average reduction in child care fees, amounting to $6,000 to $10,000 in savings per child, the ongoing creation of 86,000 new licensed spaces, and support for parental choice in child care.

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