The Wage Enhancement for Early Childhood Educators is extending!

In May 2024, we announced a key step in improving the compensation for early childhood educators. Your union negotiated a one-time funding plan into the Community Social Services Bargaining Agreement (CSSBA) to address the fact that you were excluded from the government's Early Childhood Educator (ECEs) Wage Enhancement initiative, which saw other ECEs, outside of the public sector, get a $2/hr top-up last year.

Early this year, the Incentive Benefit for Unionized Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) was extended to the last pay period of October 2025. 

Today, we are pleased to share the good news that the incentive benefit has been extended once again to the last pay period of December 2025, which means that you will continue to receive wage enhancements until the end of the year. 

To see what your top-ups under the Benefit Incentive agreement are, find your current place on the wage grid and then look to the column on the right: this number represents the hourly-wage bump that the employer is applying to all hours paid at straight-time rates. The benefit will continue to be paid in bi-monthly installments as lump sum payments:

Pushing for a permanent wage grid

While we are pleased with this extension, we know that there is much more work we need to do together. We need a legally-binding, standardized, permanent wage grid that covers all ECEs (regardless of your employer or the level of government funding they receive), and that compensation needs to match the value that you bring to your communities. 

We will continue the fight for a permanent wage grid and improved compensation that recognizes and values the critical work that you do. We know that it is you, the professionals delivering quality child care, that are at the heart of a system that children and communities rely on. 

This initiative is part of our ongoing work to level the playing field in the child care sector and to introduce improved standardized wages for child care professionals. 

Click here to read the full details of the agreement of the agreement we reached on Child Care Funding Changes.

 
In Solidarity, 
 
Andrea Duncan,
BCGEU Vice-President Community Social Services &
Chair of the Community Social Services Bargaining Association 
 
Ryan Stewart 
Chief Negotiator, CSSBA 
Staff Representative, BCGEU Negotiations Department

UWU/MoveUP