Job prospects Early Childhood Educator (ECE) in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "early childhood educator (ECE)" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be very good for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202) in Alberta for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
• High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

• Due to population growth, and demographic trends there is strong demand for early childhood educators and assistants in Alberta, particularly in rural Alberta, due to labour shortages and a lack of access to childcare centres.
• Employment is dependent on provincial and federal funding, which can lead to additional jobs in this occupation. 
• The Alberta government's Budget 2024 outlines $1.5 billion for child-care services, to create more child-care spaces, lower fees, and to support service providers. Budget 2024 also includes $24 million over 3 years for new private schools and Early Childhood Services operators. 

Here are some key facts about Early childhood educators and assistants in Alberta:

• Approximately 21,400 people work in this occupation.
• Early childhood educators and assistants mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): 90%
  • Elementary and secondary schools (NAICS 6111): 5%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 74% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 26% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 32% of early childhood educators and assistants work all year, while 68% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 35 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 14% of early childhood educators and assistants are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: less than 5% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: more than 95% compared to 47% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 19% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 8% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 31% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 27% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 10% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "early childhood educator (ECE)" Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202) or across Canada.

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