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Part of For programs and educators

Early Childhood Educator certification

Learn about a career in licensed daycare, out-of-school care, preschool program or a licensed family day home.

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Overview

To help shape children’s lives, Alberta needs an estimated 7,000 to 9,500 more Early Childhood Educators (ECE) over the next 4 years to fill existing vacancies and new positions.

To give tomorrow's generation a great start, we need to recruit, train and certify new ECEs to staff up to 68,700 new licensed child care spaces that are expected to open by 2026. This is part of the $3.8 billion provincial-federal child care agreement.

A career as an Early Childhood Educator gives you the opportunity to grow your future in a high-demand field.

If you are looking to work in a licensed daycare, out-of-school care, preschool program, or as a provider operating under a licensed family day home agency, you are required to be certified. Within 6 months of employment, child care staff must be certified and must not have unsupervised access to children until they have met the core requirements, including being certified.

Download and share our ECE posters:

Federal-provincial child care agreement

On November 15, 2021, the Alberta and federal governments announced an agreement to reduce child care fees by an average of 50% in early 2022 and to provide $10 per day fees, on average, by 2026. Learn more about this historic agreement.

Requirements

Early Childhood Educators are required to follow the conduct requirements outlined in the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators. ECEs must report any current or ongoing investigation, charge, court hearing, trial, or conviction as identified in Appendix A of the Certification Guide.

Read the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators to learn all the requirements and processes to apply for and maintain certification under the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Early Learning and Child Care Regulation, including:

  • new conduct requirements
  • changes to certification status
  • appeals
  • requests for reassessment processes

Use the Self-Disclosure Reporting Form to meet the conduct requirements.

  • Educational requirements

    Level 1 Early Childhood Educator

    To be certified for Level 1, you must have completed one of the following:

    • Alberta Child Care Orientation Course
    • CCS 3110, 3120, 3130, 3140 and 3150 (offered through Career and Technology Studies at Alberta high schools)
    • 45-hour (3 credits) post-secondary coursework related to child development
    • Family Child Care Training Program through an approved Alberta Family Day Home agency registered with the Alberta Family Child Care Association
    • ELCC coursework with outcomes that focus on diversity and Indigenous learnings, as approved by Children’s Services

    Level 2 Early Childhood Educator

    To be certified for Level 2, you must have completed:

    • 1-year early learning and child care certificate program offered by an Alberta public college or university, or an approved educational equivalency

    Level 3 Early Childhood Educator

    To be certified for Level 3, you must have completed:

    • 2-year early learning and child care diploma program offered by an Alberta public college or university, or an approved educational equivalency

  • Educational equivalencies

    If you do not have education in early learning and child care, you can refer to the Coursework Equivalency Chart in the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators to determine if your education is recognized for certification.

    Individuals who have not completed a full educational certificate, diploma or degree program or whose training does not match the Educational Equivalencies Chart will have their coursework assessed using the Coursework Equivalency Chart as noted in Appendix A in the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators.

  • Child Care Orientation Course

    The child care orientation course is for Alberta residents who do not have post-secondary educational studies in early learning and child care.

    This non-credit course is available online and meets the eligibility requirements to be a certified Level 1 Early Childhood Educator (ECE) in Alberta. The course is funded by the Alberta government and is offered at no cost to participants. The course is available in both English and French.

    To register for the course, applicants must be at least 16 years of age, and be a Canadian citizen, a Permanent Resident Card holder, or a Work or Study Visa holder legally residing in Alberta.

    Suivez le cours en français

    Le cours d’orientation en ligne sur la garde d’enfants est maintenant offert en français. La réussite de ce cours permettra aux personnes d’obtenir le titre d’assistant(e) en développement de l’enfant, un niveau d'agrément requis pour pouvoir travailler dans un programme de garde d’enfants autorisé ou approuvé en Alberta. Les versions française et anglaise du cours d’orientation en ligne sur la garde d’enfants sont offertes par l’entremise de la BaseCorp Learning Systems.

    Le cours français en ligne est offert sans frais et à toute personne ayant la citoyenneté canadienne ou à toute personne détenant une carte de résident permanent canadien qui occupe un emploi ou qui a l’intention de travailler dans un service de garde autorisé ou approuvé en Alberta.

How to apply

Before you apply for certification, read the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators to make sure you are eligible and understand all the steps. The guide includes information about the educational and language proficiency requirements.

Once you have read the guide, apply online using the Early Childhood Educator Certification Application.

  • Level 1 Early Childhood Educator certification

    For Level 1, you will be asked to send copies of your educational transcripts or statement of marks verifying completion of one the following:

    • 45 hours (3 credits) post-secondary coursework related to child development
    • Alberta Child Care Orientation Course
    • CCS 3110, 3120, 3130, 3140 and 3150 (offered through Career and Technology Studies at Alberta high schools)
    • Family Child Care Training Program through an approved Alberta Family Day Home agency registered with the Alberta Family Child Care Association
    • ELCC coursework with outcomes that focus on diversity and Indigenous learnings, as approved by Children’s Services

  • Level 2 and Level 3 Early Childhood Educator certification

    For levels 2 and 3, you must arrange for your official transcripts to be sent directly from your educational institution to the Alberta Child Care Staff Certification Office.

    If your education was completed outside of Canada, refer to the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators to determine if you require a language proficiency assessment or other additional documents.

    If you need help or have questions about using the new Early Childhood Educator Certification online application, call the Alberta Child Care Staff Certification Office at 1-800-661-9754.

    Early Childhood Educator Certification Application

  • Apply using Alberta.ca Account

    An Alberta.ca Account allows you to start an application for Early Childhood Educator certification, stop, and then come back to it later. If you are in the middle of an application, simply log back in to continue.

    To complete the application process through an Alberta.ca Account, you will be required to create a basic Alberta.ca Account. To create a basic account, all you need is an email address.

    Alberta.ca Account is your single, verified online identity for interacting with Government of Alberta online programs and services. It is free to create and gives you secure access to apply for Early Childhood Educator certification.

After you apply

After your application is assessed, you will receive an email. The email will instruct you to log into your Alberta.ca account to access new communication from us and also your Early Childhood Educator certificate if you meet the certification requirements.

There are 3 levels of certification for Early Childhood Educators:

  1. Level 1 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Assistant)
  2. Level 2 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Worker)
  3. Level 3 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Supervisor)

Current certification processing time is 4 to 6 weeks.

If you believe your education qualifies for a higher level of certification, once you receive your certificate, you may request a reassessment by completing the Request for Reassessment form.

Include any additional information that might be useful for the reassessment, for example: course descriptions or an updated official transcript.

Replacement certificates

If you lose your certificate or need to update your personal information, you can request a replacement certificate by using the Request for Replacement Certificate form.

Fillable PDF forms may not open properly on some mobile devices and web browsers. For help opening the forms, contact PDF form technical support.

Contact

Connect with the Alberta Child Care Staff Certification Office:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Toll free: 1-800-661-9754
Email: [email protected]

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