THUNDER BAY—The Thunder Bay area still has a very high demand for fully qualified, registered early childhood educators, say those responsible for training future professionals and those currently working in the system.
Confederation College held its annual career fair for early childhood education students Friday afternoon.
The gathering allowed students to learn about the career opportunities available in their field with various organizations in Thunder Bay and the region, said Maria Cole, one of the college’s faculty in its early childhood education program.
Similarly, she continued, it allows employers to meet prospective job-seekers, which helps with recruitment.
And the need is definitely still there, Cole said the Thunder Bay area alone needs at least 100 additional full-time, registered ECEs to meet demand.
“There's not enough people and there's not enough qualified people,” Cole said.
“So, through the process, students need to complete an intensive two-year program here at the college and then they need to apply for registration to become a registered early childhood educator to be able to work within the scope of practice with children, families and colleagues.”
For organizations seeking new hires, Friday’s career fair is a chance to meet prospective future employees.
“There's a shortage of registered ECEs across Ontario, so by coming here, we try to recruit our new grads,” said Angela Celeiro, the executive director of Harbour View Child Care Centre.
“We want to have registered ECEs, we need registered ECEs.”
“All of us are all here for the same reason — recruitment, recruitment, recruitment," she added.
Harbour View alone has a waitlist of 1,600 applications, covering infants up to kids 12 years old.
Celeiro said she’s been in the field since the late 1990s.
Back then, she said, it was tough to find a job in the field, but today, “there are jobs available from relief staff to temporary to full time.”
“We just don't have enough educated people to be able to give quality care," said Celeiro.
More provincial resources to better compensate ECEs and better promotion of the importance of the work they do is important, she explained.
“We target children at the early years — the most brain development,” she said.
"The government needs to understand … that funding and putting out that advertising of education of how it's important that we need people to be able to service the families and children so parents can go to work.”
Cole agreed.
“I think first and foremost is really supporting the importance of the role of early childhood education,” she said.
“We are continuously advocating for the importance of the role, the important work we do with young children and their families.”
The college has also taken steps to accept and graduate more students. These include dual-credit courses for high school students — not only in Thunder Bay but at regional campuses, too — and a partnership with the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board to offer a fast-track diploma program for people already working in the field.
Registration numbers also appear to be healthy for the college.
Shane Strickland, the college’s dean of the School of Health, Negahneewin and Community Services, said that each fall, the college typically has space for 60 students in its two-year program. In the past few years, he added, they’ve been oversubscribed.
“As long as we have these ongoing partnerships that you see here today, we can build that capacity and we can take on more students,” he said.
For Maria Cole, who’s been teaching at the college for at least 15 years after working in the field for over 20, it can be a very gratifying career.
“This field is very rewarding because you are building capacity, you are building children's brains, you're building children's capacity to be with others — to prepare them and to support them in who they are as individuals,” said Cole.
