The meeting will come just days after a similar emergency meeting in Moosomin.
Providers, parents, and childcare advocates are warning that the changes will eliminate access to many part-time and casual childcare spaces — the very spaces relied upon by healthcare workers, first responders, miners, construction workers, retail employees, and countless other shift workers across Saskatchewan.
“These changes threaten to leave working families with an impossible choice: find childcare they can't access or leave the workforce altogether,” said Joan Pratchler, Shadow Minister for Childcare & Early Years. “At a time when Saskatchewan is facing labour shortages in critical sectors, the government is making it harder for people to go to work.”
Childcare operators are also warning that the new funding model will have devastating financial consequences for centres that depend on a mix of full-time, part-time, and casual enrolment to remain viable. Many providers say the changes could force them to reduce services, lay off staff, or close their doors entirely.
For years, childcare centres have been warning the government that the system requires flexibility to meet the needs of Saskatchewan families. Instead of listening, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party have pushed ahead with a plan that providers say fails to reflect the realities of modern work schedules and community needs.
“Childcare is not just a family issue—it is an economic issue,” Pratchler said. “Parents cannot work without reliable childcare, and our economy cannot grow if workers are being forced out of the labour force because their childcare options disappear.”
Carla Beck’s team is calling on the government to immediately pause implementation of the changes, consult directly with childcare providers and families, and develop a plan that protects both childcare spaces and the long-term sustainability of centres across Saskatchewan.
“People are coming from miles around and every walk of life in support of affordable childcare,” Pratchler said. “This is critical to our economy, to making life more affordable and to our collective future.
“Scott Moe and his Minister are on notice that we’re not going to stop until both of them make accessible, affordable Childcare a priority in this province and they can start by halting these ridiculous July 1 changes.”
The emergency meeting begins at 7pm at Station 20 West- $110, 1120 20th St W.
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MLA Pratchler is available for interviews before the meeting and after this evening in Saskatoon.