The Official Opposition is calling on the Education Minister, Paul Dinn, to immediately address concerns raised by child care operators and take action to ensure there is no interruption to $10-a-day child care for families across Newfoundland and Labrador.
Last week, the Board of Directors of NL Childcare Licensees informed parents and guardians about the operational challenges facing its members’ child care centres and their tentative decision to opt out of the Operating Grant Program (OGP) on October 1, 2026.
For months, early childhood educators and child care operators have been raising concerns about changes the government made to the Operating Grant Program and the impacts those changes are having on educators, children and their families.
Last year, during the 2026 spring sitting of the House of Assembly, the Official Opposition raised these concerns with Premier Tony Wakeham and the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, urged the government to make investments in early learning in Budget 2026, and called for consultation before enforcing changes to the OGP. Unfortunately, those calls were not met with a commitment to act and there was no help in the budget.
“Meaningful consultation with our partners in the Early Learning and Child Care sector is essential to maintaining Newfoundland and Labrador’s high-quality, affordable child care system,” says Education Critic Paul Pike. “It is extremely disappointing that the Conservatives proposed changes to the OGP without consulting child care operators or early childhood educators, and that, several months later, meaningful consultation has still not taken place.”
The Minister of Education announced a steering committee in June 2025 to make recommendations on changes and benefit improvements for the early childhood sector, but no public update has been made on the committee’s progress.
“The $10-a-day child care system in Newfoundland and Labrador supports the children’s development, saves families thousands of dollars each year, and allows parents to be part of the workforce,” says former Minister of Education, MHA Bernard Davis. “Early childhood educators and child care operators deserve assurance that work is being done to address their concerns and that a concerted effort is being made to continuously improve the sector.”
The Official Opposition will continue to monitor the situation and advocate on behalf of child care operators, early childhood educators, children and families to ensure the $10-a-day child care program continues without interruption in Newfoundland and Labrador.
–30–