The Provincial Government is establishing a new Child Care Advisory Panel comprised of child care operators that will help the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development improve child care services.

The panel will provide insights, concerns and recommendations to improve and expand child care services in Newfoundland and Labrador based on the experiences of those working in the child care sector.

The department reviewed 115 responses to an expression of interest seeking members for the panel in June to ensure the members represented diverse perspectives from all regions of the province. The panel includes representation from a mix of rural and urban perspectives, early childhood educators, administrators and licensees from child care centres and family homes.

To support inclusive representation as identified in the original expression of interest, a focused expression of interest will be issued to seek Indigenous representation, as the initial process did not result in an Indigenous representative meeting the established criteria.

A list of current members on the Child Care Advisory Panel is available in the backgrounder below.

The advisory panel will contribute to the continued expansion and development of the child care sector by supporting high-quality, inclusive, diverse, affordable and accessible child care in the province.

The panel is in addition to an early childhood educator steering committee that is helping guide next steps towards introducing pensions and benefits for early childhood educators in Newfoundland and Labrador.

More than 470 child care spaces have opened throughout the province since October 2025.

Budget 2026 invests close to $33 million to support child care spaces, which includes approximately 1,200 spaces in progress and the creation of an additional 400 new spaces.

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“This is an exciting next step for improving child care services in our province. This panel consists of early childhood education operators who will help identify challenges in the system and offer feasible solutions to benefit children, early childhood educators and operators. Child care operators have first-hand experience of the challenges families face when trying to access child care. They also have solutions on how we can improve child care services. Their input will help inform next steps in our plan to increase access to affordable child care for families.”
Honourable Paul Dinn
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development

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BACKGROUNDER

Twelve members of the Child Care Advisory Panel were identified by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development based on a review of a total of 115 who expressed interest. The panel includes a diverse mix of views from all regions of the province.