Job prospects Early Childhood Educator - Junior Kindergarten in Alberta

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

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