A recent audit report found there are 694 cases of underutilized child care spaces in Saskatchewan.

As part of the Provincial Auditor of Saskatchewan Volume 2 report, it analyzed whether the Government of Saskatchewan continues to meet its requirements under the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

Although the province has increased its number of child care spaces to 41,163, the report found there are 694 instances of approved spots that are in locations that do not need them or do not have enough Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) available.

“We can create as many spaces as we want, but without the creation of more early childhood educators, it’s not going to matter,” expressed Megan Schmidt, director of the First Years Learning Centre Inc. in Regina.

“Part of that comes down to wages. We still don’t have a pay grade from the government. We’re getting wage top ups from the government, which is wonderful … but I think a wage grade would feel a lot more solid to a lot of early childhood educators.”

Despite enrolling dozens of new families in the past few months, Schmidt said there are still hundreds of kids waitlisted.

“Our waitlist is at 1,913 children. Prior to September, it was over 2,000,” she said.

In addition, the report states there is a lack in tracking the number of ECEs across Saskatchewan by the government which could increase the risk of approving spaces that cannot be staffed.

As part of its deal with the federal government, the Ministry of Education committed to increase the number of child care spaces to about 46,000 by March 31, 2026.

“The report confirms what, frankly, families and workers have known for a long time, which is Saskatchewan is falling behind on its commitments to create childcare spaces to make sure they’re adequately used and staffed. The current approach by the provincial government is not working,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan.

From the 41,163 spaces created as of March, 2025, there were 7,635 spots reported to still be under development.

Peterson said the underutilized spaces can be credited to a shortage of workers.

“The government can say they have a certain number of spaces, but unless there’s a worker there to meet the standards of ratios and the quality of care being provided, parents can’t actually access that space,” he added.

By focusing on recruitment and increasing wages, Peterson said more people may be interested in pursuing the career for the long-term.

“We can take early childhood educator positions, these childcare workers, and turn them from being a temporary job that someone might work until they move on to the next thing and turn them into actual careers that allow some stability in the system and proper utilization, full utilization of those approved childcare spaces,” he explained.

According to the report, the province also has over 1,200 licensed child care providers (centres and homes).

In a statement to CTV News, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education said it plans to implement the recommendations made by the auditor in its agreement with the federal government, which was extended in late-November.

“The ministry is pleased with the results of the audit on the processes to achieve the accessibility outcome outlined in the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. As of September 30, 2025, Saskatchewan is 91 per cent of the way towards reaching the target of 28,000 additional early learning child care spaces as part of the agreement,” read the statement.

“The ministry accepts the recommendations to develop a sustainable funding model for the provision of child care, analyze key data related to making child care accessible and track and report on all key information to the federal government as outlined in the agreement.

The purpose of the report is to make sure child care is accessible across Saskatchewan by tracing the unmet demand, space utilization, and early childhood educators required. In addition to see if the ministry is meeting its intent of the agreement with the federal government.