Alberta Says Increased Childcare Subsidy, More Resources Available in Event of Teacher Strike

An empty classroom at Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver on March 23, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

The Alberta government says it will offer more resources for families of young children in the event of a teacher strike.

Nearly 90 percent of provincial teachers voted against a memorandum of agreement on Sept. 29, with the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) saying a strike was “imminent” and would start on Oct. 6.

The province previously said it would offer $150 a week to families with younger children who are impacted by the strike. It said the funds would be paid from the money saved on teachers’ salaries and training during the strike.

Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides also previously said families would be provided with access to online resources for core subjects including language arts, math, and science, updated each week.

The province has now said it will also increase the child care subsidy for families with children in Grades 1 to 6 who attend out-of-school care full time, to cover the cost of additional child care if there is a teachers’ strike.

The temporary increase in funding will begin after five consecutive days of a strike, and will apply for all of October, according to an Oct. 3 provincial news release. It said the province will increase the funding to $644, on par with rates provided during summer months when children are in full time care.

Alberta’s government is also making changes to its distance education and home learning programs for students.

It said it will temporarily lift a restriction of 10 credits per year for distance education, which will allow high school students to keep earning credits during a teachers’ strike “if they are interested in doing so.”

The province said that students can also enroll in distance education with independent schools that offer it at any time during the strike. Families that opt for the program will no longer be registered at their public, separate, or francophone school, the province said. Those who decide not to continue with the program will not be guaranteed a spot at their previous school.

Students enrolled in a distance education program may receive up to 50 percent of the home education grant, to a maximum of $450.50 per child, the province said.

Premier Danielle Smith has called on teachers to return to negotiations, saying that teachers, parents, and students all “deserve stability.”

“I am urging the ATA leadership to engage with teachers, determine what supports they need, and come back to the bargaining table so we can get a deal that keeps kids in the classroom,” Smith said in an Oct. 3 post on X.

The union said one of the main issues was wages, saying that teachers have seen a salary increase of less than 6 percent over the past 10 years.

ATA president Jason Schilling previously said teachers also want the province to address classroom complexity, adding that the proposed agreement failed to improve conditions in a “concrete and meaningful way.”

The rejected offer included a 12 percent salary increase over a four-year period and a commitment by the province to hire 3,000 more teachers and 1,500 new education assistants for classroom complexity pressures, according to the government.

The contract also proposed transitioning most teachers to a unified pay grid in September 2026, a move that would have given more than 95 percent of educators a 17 percent wage increase, the government said.

ATA represents 51,000 teachers.

The walkout could interrupt learning for more than 700,000 kindergarten to Grade 12 students across 2,500 schools. It would be the largest teacher strike in the province’s history.

Free Admission

The province has also said museums and heritage sites would offer free admission for those 18 and under during the teachers’ strike.

It noted that parents and family members would still be required to pay admission and that guests under 14 needed to be accompanied by an adult.

“By offering free admission for young Albertans to our provincial museums and historic sites, we are helping parents manage disruptions while giving kids meaningful learning opportunities,” Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir said.

The sites include the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump, Oil Sands Discovery Centre, Remington Carriage Museum, Reynolds Museum, Royal Alberta Museum, and Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.