Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
The federal government announced 90 daycare spaces for Northlands College.
It’s a $10.8 Million, which relates to 540 daycare spaces split between Sask Polytechnic campuses in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw; and Northlands College in the north.
“It’s very interesting because, just from our perspective as a federal government, we are sponsoring programs like this for up to 900,000 children,” Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River MP Buckley Belanger said, in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
“And every single daycare space is intended to allow moms and dads to attend school, knowing that those daycare supports are there so they can pursue educational opportunities and, of course they become part of the economies as they achieve their careers,” he said.
He also said, “Northern Saskatchewan, of course, benefited with 90 of those seats going to North Lands College.”
Saskatchewan has not, to the time of writing this story, signed on the the Liberal Government’s $10-a-Day benefit, Belanger said.
“I can’t speak for the Provincial government. What I can tell you is Canada’s commitment to moving forward with this $10-a-Day program has such enormous benefits right across the country.
“When you have these additional daycare spaces … we’ve described here to make sure that they’re available … this is part of a safety net, you will make sure that daycare is affordable for Canadians and that includes Saskatchewan Canadians,” Belanger said.
The federal proposed daycare initiative takes effect in 2026 and is a “federal government initiative to make sure childcare if affordable for everyone. That’s important.”
The program is intended to “support the working families or those that are looking at educational opportunities (so that) childcare doesn’t become a barrier or obstacle to re-enter the workforce or get educational (opportunities),” he said.
