New Family Resource Centres Coming To Lloydminster, Swift Current And Weyburn

Released on March 31, 2022

Saskatchewan's Early Years Family Resource Centres have become important resources to support families with young children, offering them a range of early learning opportunities and supports, all at no cost to families.

Today, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced funding for the creation of three new Early Years Family Resource Centres in the communities of Lloydminster, Swift Current and Weyburn.

"When Saskatchewan families succeed, the entire province benefits," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. "Early Years Family Resource Centres offer families with young children up to five a variety of early learning resources, services and supports to improve developmental needs and school readiness. These centres have attracted thousands of families from across the province and the government remains committed to expanding this important resource."

Funding for the three new centres is being provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. Under this agreement, Canada is investing approximately $68.5 million over four years to support access to high quality, inclusive, affordable and flexible child care in Saskatchewan. The total allocation for these centres is $645,000 in start-up funding with $215,000 going to each centre.

“Every child deserves the best start in life,” Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said. “These additional centres will allow more children and families from Saskatchewan to access high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care.”

The new centres will be developed through community partnerships led by Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, Holy Trinity Roman Catholic School Division and Lloydminster Public School Division. The divisions will be responsible for leading a community planning team that will develop the local centres, which are planned for opening in Fall 2022.

"Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division is delighted to be the accountable partner in a shared community service in Weyburn," Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division Director Gwen Keith said. "This partnership will welcome all families with children from the prenatal stage to age five to a warm, welcoming community setting that supports early childhood growth and development in southeast Saskatchewan. Holy Family looks forward to working with community partners to make this service a reality."

There are currently 12 Family Resource Centres in Saskatchewan. All 12 centres are fully developed, operational, and are welcoming families. Once these three new centres are developed in Lloydminster, Swift Current, and Weyburn, Saskatchewan will have a total of 15 centres.

Thousands of families have benefited from services offered by Early Years Family Resource Centres. From April 2020 to March 2021, the centres distributed 13,000 learning activity kits and had 898,000 social media and web page views. They were also able to welcome 15,400 children and adults in person.

The Government of Canada is making a transformative investment to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in partnership with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners. More than half of Canada’s provinces and territories, including Saskatchewan, have either announced child care fee reductions or have already achieved an average cost of $10-a-day or lower for regulated child care.

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