The federal and provincial governments are set to increase access for families with young children in rural Saskatchewan to mobile early learning opportunities.
An additional $405,000 has been invested by the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan as part of the KidsFirst Regional programming.
KidsFirst Regional travels to communities across the province, bringing unique learning opportunities to children up to age five with programs such as take-home literacy kits, story walks and pop-up preschool events.
This increase in funding will allow KidsFirst Regional to reach more children in their communities with learning initiatives that focus on child development, literacy, nutrition, health and well-being.
KidsFirst Regional, Regina-Qu’Appelle Area Supervisor Donna Coleman-Trombley said the investment allows them to serve as many children as possible.
“If you only have ten children under the age of five in your community – we still want to come to you and provide programming. Being able to go out into these rural communities shows these families that their children are important no matter where they live.”
Ten KidsFirst Regional areas across the province received funding; Moose Jaw-Assiniboia area, Kindersley area, Tisdale area, Prince Albert area, Saskatoon area, Southwest area, Regina area, Yorkton area and the Southeast area all received $40,000. Lloydminster-Meadow Lake-the Battlefords received $45,000 as they serve a larger area.
Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, said the additional investment allows children to have a better start in life.
“The additional funding to KidsFirst programs will help ensure that all families in Saskatchewan have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning opportunities no matter where they live.”
Education Minister Dustin Duncan said that providing KidsFirst Regional with more funding will ensure that regardless of where children live, they can have access to high-quality early learning opportunities.
“The variety of programs KidsFirst Regional offers will continue to support early childhood development, school readiness goals and positive social engagement in communities across Saskatchewan.”
Last year KidsFirst Regional supported almost 16,000 parents and young children in 343 communities.
The program also distributed 8,600 early learning kits and backpacks across the province, which included activities to enhance all five elements of child development, including linguistic, social-emotional, cognitive, fine and gross motor skills.
Funding for the programming was $823,500 in 2022-23. This additional investment recently provided to KidsFirst Regional areas increases the total program funding to $1.2 million.
The increase of $405,000 in funding is being provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Bi-Lateral Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which was signed on August 13, 2021.
