 good morning everyone and welcome I'll start off by acknowledging that I'm speaking to you today from the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people the Mosqueham slay with tooth and Squamish nations and I want to thank you all for joining us today I'd like to introduce the speakers that we have today we have Katrina Chen Minister of State for child care we have Emily Gallick who is the Executive Director of ECEBC and Ariana Chartrand who is a ECE student from here in Vancouver Minister Gold the federal Minister for Families and Children and Social Development regrets that she cannot attend today's announcement she sends her best wishes and hopes to be able to celebrate this important work of our wonderful early childhood educators in the weeks ahead we're here for an exciting announcement to make life better for BC families yesterday we announced the stronger BC economic plan a plan for you and your family a plan that's focused on tackling the challenges of today by preparing us for the future by investing in our most valuable asset our people over the many months we've talked to thousands of British Columbians from all walks of life and you've told us what matters to you the most and I have to say quality affordable child care is on top of everyone's priority list I heard from business owners time and time again we need to make sure parents have access to quality affordable child care so they can fully participate in the workforce our government has made historic investments in child care and I often say that quality affordable child care is BC's competitive advantage expanded access to child care will make it easier for parents to participate in the workforce and early child care educators are the heart of this of a child's care they are the skilled professionals who care for our children when we can't and with more child care spaces coming online than ever before the need for early child care educators has never been greater BC is leading Canada's economic recovery with more than a million job openings over the next 10 years we need to work together to close the skills gap and by doing so we need to ensure that early childhood educators that we need in every corner of this province have the skills to take those opportunities to say a few words about the investments to meet this growing need I'd like to now introduce my colleague Katrina Chen the Minister for State for Child Care. Thank you so much many everyone thank you Minister Callan thanks so much for your critical work on the economic plan we're so excited about that and thank you for being such a strong child care advocate and ensuring that childcare is the critical part of our economic plan and before I begin of course I want to acknowledge that I'm joining you from my office here in Burnaby which is located on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. I also want to thank Minister Karina Gold who is unable to be here today and for the federal government's partnership and commitment to childcare and big thanks to Emily and Ariana I look forward to hearing your remarks and story very shortly and thank you so much for being here with us today. I also want to begin by saying thank you to all VCs child care professionals I know you are exhausted and having working so hard caring for children in your communities and as a parent of a young child I understand that the past two years are exceptionally challenging times and I know firsthand the huge difference you make every single day as a single parent and immigrant without family around I would not be able to do the work I do without the childcare professionals in my life. I'm so grateful for the work you do from the bottom of my heart and I know many VC families feel the same we feel that every day and parents like me know how the work of early childhood educators is so critical to our economy to enable us to return and stay in the workforce and we are here today to say that those opportunities are not just for parents they are really for everybody. One of the shared commitments we have to our partnership with the government of Canada is to make sure childcare is more affordable accessible and inclusive for all families and since 2018 we've already funded and supported the creation of more than 26,000 childcare spaces and by 2028 this number will rise to more than 50,000 through our federal partnership and that is great news for families but we know we cannot deliver childcare without the skill professionals who are caring for our children at the most important time of their lives. Early childhood educators education passion and skills are in high demand and we are going to need thousands of childcare professionals to fill those spaces and the new spaces we're creating and those spaces that we have today for VC families. You need to ensure that we are supporting current early childhood educators and early childhood educator assistants to stay in the field while also supporting a new generation of PCEs that are ready to take up the challenges and that is why we need to keep fostering positive partnerships with all levels of government and also with organizations like the early childhood educators of VC. Thanks again Emily for being here to promote and fund opportunities for early childhood educators. So last summer we signed an early learning and childcare agreement with the federal government of Canada to support high quality affordable flexible and accessible childcare including supports for early childhood educators and I'm proud to announce today that through this agreement the federal government is making a significant investment of 49.2 million to further develop and support the early childhood workforce in British Columbia. This support is critical. Just over half of this funding or about 25.5 million will provide bursaries for students who study early childhood education and those bursaries will spend three to four academic years bringing more stability and certainty for ECE students and over 11 million provided through federal workforce funding will support efforts to recruit and retain early childhood educators. We're also investing in special training and professional development to support ECEs to upgrade their skills in priority areas to make childcare more inclusive, especially for children require extra support and needing enhanced or individual supports. Training will also focus on making childcare more culturally appropriate for indigenous children and to build an inclusive childcare system that meets our children and family's needs. We must support both current and future early childhood educators and this is why I'm so excited about our dual credit program for early childhood educators. This will actually allow high school students to take post-secondary courses and receive credits toward both graduation and the post-secondary program. The program will cover tuition fees for courses and resulting in more affordable training for students in early childhood education. And we also want to provide education opportunities to early childhood educators and transform the childcare sector into one that is both emotionally fulfilling and financially rewarding for early childhood educators. Because we know that many people become ECEs because that they love working with children. I remember when I started this work in 2017, I met with so many passionate ECEs who've stayed in the sector despite the low wages and lack of support because they love the children and families they serve. And their stories and passion have really shaped our childcare BC plan that started it in 2018. I remember for example, meeting Kim, a mom and an immigrant and early childhood educator with two young children who almost could not continue her work as an ECE because of her own childcare struggles with high costs of childcare and the lack of spaces. But they all changed when she was able to assess affordable low cost childcare while getting a wage top up from the government to increase her income, which allowed her to continue her work as an ECE, serve many more other children and continue to pursue the career she loves. I remember meeting Kim and her baby as she shared her joy with me and she said how important it is for her to be many in the workforce because she wants to work and support her family while her children could get affordable quality care. And Kim's story is so true to many parents, especially mothers because too often when families cannot find affordable childcare, it is women who lose out the most work and educational opportunities. And I remember meeting a single mom who had to put her public service career on hold, living on income assistance for a period of time because she could not find childcare for her children. And she told me that was the hardest, hardest time of her life. And that was unacceptable because it not only affected her financial situation, her career opportunities, it also affected her and her children's overall well-being. And that is not right. And that is why making affordable childcare available to anyone who wants it when they need it is one of the ways we are advancing gender equity. And we're so grateful to partner with the federal government as the first province to start a national childcare planning 2021. Just a few months ago, it feels like so long ago, but there's so much work to do. But we already started the work since 2018, really, when we also introduced a recruitment and retention strategy for early childhood educators. For example, we have already provided through our provincial efforts and federal efforts, more than 10,000 bursaries to support nearly 6,000 early childhood educators students. We've created about 1115 new ECE student spaces, which more than double the number of training seats. We have an enhanced wage enhancement program by $4 an hour increased hop-up, bringing the medium ECE wages to about $25 an hour this year from about only $18 when we first started this work in 2019. Last year, we also introduced them past the Early Childhood Educators Act to further support the work of ECE through legislation. And we're working on a wage grid for early childhood educators, something that childcare professionals have been calling for. And this actions are really vital. And we've seen, for example, an increase of 25 percent of ECE and ECEAs through our registry that has a good increase. But we need to keep make sure those increase stays there that we need to keep working hard to recruit and retain those workers because we cannot build a quality inclusive system family need without the dedicated childcare professionals. We are making childcare into a core service that family can depend on the same way they depend on schools to be there for their kids. This will support our economy. It is something that's also being supported by local businesses, chambers and board of trade across BC, as Ms. Callan has mentioned. And since 2018, that is why we've invested $2.7 billion into our 10 year childcare BC plan. And moving forward, we also have the support from the federal government of $3.2 billion. And that is why as of today, 10,000 families are already saving up to $19,000 a year per child through our affordability measures, such as the fee reduction program, affordable childcare benefit program and $10 a day size. And the November living wage report that just came out shows that childcare investment have improved affordability for modest and middle income families in BC. And we are so proud that our main BC plan is supported by the government of Canada. It is improving access to childcare and lowering the cost of living for families in every part of BC. It is investing the professional early childhood educator workforce, both for today and for the future. So parents can rely on the vital service. And once again, as a parent who lives in brief childcare every single day, I could probably go on and on about childcare for hours. And I'm so grateful that I get to work on childcare as well. That every day, I think and appreciate the work of early childhood educators, because we trust this professionals with the most important people in our lives, our children and babies. We need to give them all the support they deserve for the work they do. And that will help us to build a stronger BC and a more equitable future for everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Minister Chen, not only for your leadership, but clearly your passion for advancing childcare opportunities for British Columbians. We know that it's important for affordability, but we also know that it's a key pillar of part of our economic plan. And of course, we send our thanks to Minister Gold, who we also know is a good partner to advance this important initiative. Now I'd like to invite Emily Gullick, who is the Executive Director of ECBC, to say a few words. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be part of such essential updates on government's commitments to early childhood education. I'm honored to be here as well from the lands of the Coast Salish peoples as I'm here at my house in Burnaby today. And I'm learning and living and growing my own self within these traditional lands. The early childhood educators of BC is celebrating its 53rd year. Since our beginnings, we have been at the forefront of bringing a vision for a society where early childhood educators thrive in a supportive community that values children and education. And we do this through education, collaboration and leadership across this province. The research is absolutely clear. When we invest in the early years, families, children's and communities benefit. This is good for BC and for our economy. For just as an example, the Conference Board of Canada reports stated that investing in early childhood education tends to bring back $6 worth of benefits for every dollar spent. That's huge. For sure, there has been challenging times for our sectors for decades, only highlighted by this pandemic, a shortage of qualified early childhood educators and a lack of understanding of the complex nature of the work educators undertake while working with young children and their families are really at the top of this list. These investments and actions being taken will build the professional workforce and offer opportunities for both current and future early childhood educators. We welcome, honestly, from our organization, the broad scope of initiatives the government is committed to addressing in the recruitment and retention issues that we have, while assuring a lens of quality as a key focus in developing a child care system. It's very important, including some things such as the peer mentorship project that's happening throughout the province, the early childhood pedagogy network and the best choices and ethical journey, just only to name just a few of them. These opportunities really do have the potential to increase our professionalism. All initiatives need to honor the sector's pedagogy and current realities. We are excited about the future opportunities for early childhood educators, including the development of a wage grid and other areas that will recognize the uniqueness of this work. So as Minister Chen has said, since 2018, ECBC has administered the Educational Support Fund for ECE students. And I got the hot off the press news for my bursary team this morning. As of today, we have delivered over 12,000 bursaries. This represents more than 28,000 ECE courses completed in this province. The investment being announced today will provide multiyear funding commitment. This will help with recruitment and retention of an educated workforce that will continue to the growth of quality programs throughout BC. Personally, myself, I am an early childhood educator, and this marks my 30 year anniversary as a certified educator. In my career, I have never seen such a commitment from both federal and provincial governments. This commitment needs to continue to grow for decades to come. That includes the voice of early childhood educators. I look forward to more advancement in the sector and working closely with all levels of government as we build the 10 a day childcare system that we need in this province and that we can do this together. So thank you for again for having me here today and to be able to speak about these exciting announcements. Thank you so much, Emily, for your remarks and your 30 years of commitment to ensuring that our children have bright futures. And thank you for speaking today. Now I'd like to share a bit more about today's announcements and what it means for ESEE students. And we'd like to welcome Arianna Chartrand, who is an ESEE student from Vancouver to share her thoughts. Thank you so much and good morning, everyone. My name is Arianna Chartrand. I use she, her, her pronouns. I'm an ESEE student, as well as the vice president for my student union and the chairperson for the Alliance of BC students. I'm originally from treaty one territory known as Winnipeg Manitoba. And I come from a mix of Cree, black and settler ancestry. But I'm so grateful to be living on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam school, Hommish and the Slava tooth nations. And I've been so grateful to be able to make my home on these lands. I've been a recipient of these ESEE bursaries for the majority of my degree in early childhood care and education. As a financially independent student bursaries, as well as other scholarships and financial aid opportunities have supported, supported my post secondary education practicum. They are an essential to every ESEE's educational journey, where students work on site in childcare centers with the guidance from professors, mentors and other supervisors, many of which are unpaid. And this poses a significant barrier for students like myself, who work sometimes up to three jobs to pay for housing, tuition, and the other basic costs of living. I'm encouraged to see funding in this announcement that gives ESEE is the opportunity to become certified while getting work experience, including some of the income from that work. And for me having access to these bursaries has allowed me to take a substantially smaller student loan, one that is way more manageable than had I not had access to funding like this. And further, it has supported me being involved with my community on campus, and other advocacy initiatives that I'm passionate about. I bring a lot of these passions with me as an early childhood educator. And I do now have the time to actively pursue some of these with my like minded peers. These bursaries do directly impact my ability not only to continue, but hopefully soon complete my program. And I know I can only speak to this as Emily and Minister Chen have already, but working with young children is a huge commitment and a great responsibility. And there are so many individuals out there who have these critical lived experience, essential to providing equitable and quality childcare for whom financing a post secondary education may discourage or even prevent them from entering the field. Funding like what is being announced today can really open doors by providing people with financial support that reduces barriers to professional training and certification. I've been so grateful to meet incredible educators as students, professors, advocates and researchers who are leading conversations that challenge the legacies of colonization and education, promoting anti racist education, along with other critically important equity oriented movements. I get to work alongside educators living key documents like the ECBC code of ethics, living the commitments to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And I continue to look forward to working in a fast progressing field with ongoing support from amazing movements like the 10 dollar a day child care plan and other movements that go towards making early childhood education more equitable, accessible and affordable. It's really incredible to know that with the funding in today's announcement, many more ECEs will be getting support to complete their education and that more professional developed opportunities will be there when we need them. So thank you again for hearing and listening to me today. I'm very grateful for the opportunity. Thank you so much, Arianna. We want to say I can I can hear your passion through your voice and thank you for your commitment, not only for the work you're doing, but also your advocacy for others to receive the similar supports that that you know that you've benefited from. I want everyone to know that BC's economic plan is here to support people and families because we know that through the pandemic and through our experiences that people are the economy. You have told us clearly that an economy that's built for people is an economy that is built to succeed. And that is exactly what we're doing. And that's what this investment that was announced today is all about. This will encourage more people to join a really rewarding and in demand career. And with that, I want to say thank you. And we are happy to take any questions. Thank you to all our speakers as a reminder to reporters on the phone, please press star one to enter the queue. That's star one to ask a question. You will be limited to one question and one follow-up. Please also remember to keep your phone off mute. You will not be audible until your name is called. Our first question today is from Richard Zesman global. Please go ahead. Mr. Chen, parents have heard commitments like this before only to be told that it could be months if not years until they see it as either an additional space or a $10 space. So how quickly should we expect to see an influx of the ECEs in the system? And are you worried there'll be parents now whose kids will be in school by the time they get that that space or that funding support they need? Thank you so much, Richard, for the question. As a pair of myself, we're eager every single day to try to get the affordable, inclusive quality services for our families and children. Because you're right. Families have been waiting for a long time. And when we started this work in 2017 and 18, we wanted to make sure we take the actions and wrote out the measures as soon as possible. So you would remember in 2018 budget, we wrote out their child care BC plan with over three dozens of new initiatives to lower parent fees as soon as fast as possible through the fee reduction program, the affordable child care benefit program and the $10 day site that started in 2018. And at the same time, we have been supporting the creation of spaces. The fastest in BC's history was over 26,000 spaces being funded during the past few years. Because we know it takes years to build those spaces sometimes. And then at the same time, in 2018, right away, we have been rolling out the recruitment and retention strategies to support early childhood educators with over a dozen of new strategies, including the wage top up program, the wage enhancement program, the bursary program, workforce support and many other measures like the pedagogies network to support current and new early childhood educators coming into the field and help them with recruitment and retention. We've been taking those actions as fast as we can. I understand the pandemic has hit the sector really, really hard as it has hitting many other sectors in our bobbins. But we have not stopped supporting early childhood educators through our inter temporary emergency funding, health and safety grant to support providers. And that is why today's announcement, the close to $50 million will help to further that work as we continue to build a new system and provide this core services to all families. So for early childhood educators, for example, this year, it's going to be a $4 wage enhancement this year. We hope that will help to keep a lot of early childhood educators in the field. And for students who wants to come into this field, either through the new dual credit program that I'm really excited about, and also through use utilizing bursaries and I cannot thank Ariana enough for sharing your story of how the bursary programs has helped you. We want to and we need to train more early childhood educators staying in the field. And for people like Emily, who is being an early childhood educator for 30 years, we want to keep them and we want to make sure there's more of them. So we're taking those actions as fast as we can during the past few years and we'll continue to take more actions. For example, the wage grids that I mentioned earlier is something we're building as fast as we can to make sure we can provide more stability for early childhood educators when it comes to compensation so they can remain in the field. Thank you. Richard, did you have a follow up? Yeah, this one's from Minister Cal on and just a shift to something we saw yesterday from the provincial health officer, a removal of an order requiring businesses to have virtual or at home work options and no doubt this is starting to lead the transition for more people back in the workplace. This will have economic impacts all over the place, no doubt. Minister, is there an encouragement from your government to have people back in the workplace to you know, get people back into transit, get back people, you know, into their day to day routines? And, you know, is there going to be additional financial support from the province for TransLink or for downtown businesses that could be profoundly impacted if we don't see, you know, a big surge of workers back into downtown course? Well, we saw impacts to businesses throughout the pandemic who haven't seen the people come back to the levels that they had seen prior to the pandemic. Certainly we would be happy to see a shift of more people being able to return to the downtown core in particular, but it will be up to every business and we've heard, certainly I have heard from business leaders that some businesses are going to make that shift gradually and some are not at all because the online virtual way of working has worked for them. So it'll depend business by business, but we are starting to see more confidence in the public, in the business community to be able to have people come back to work. I think that's positive both for the work environment, but of course it's also very positive for our businesses that rely on people coming back into the downtown core. That's all the questions we have for today. Thank you to everyone for joining and this concludes today's event.