Overview
Early childhood educators show resilience and dedication to continue meeting the child care needs of families in their communities. Every day, working parents rely on their licensed child care provider so they can go to work or school. This is essential for families and subsequently the economy overall.
The Minister’s Awards of Excellence in Child Development recognize the important work of certified early childhood educators and providers working in licensed child care programs who make life better for children and families across Alberta. Nominating these educators, teams and programs honours excellence in their field. Doing so also celebrates their outstanding work with children at licensed child care programs across Alberta.
To celebrate and recognize their achievements, 2024 award recipients will be announced on October 10, 2024.
Nine awards are available to early learning and child care professionals with 3 awards in each category:
- Individuals – Certified early childhood educators working with children in a licensed program
- Teams – A team of 2 to 4 certified early childhood educators working with children in a licensed program
- Programs – A licensed child care program where certified early childhood educators work directly with children
Eligibility
Eligible applicants
Anyone can nominate certified early childhood educators and licensed programs for an award. The nominated individuals, teams or programs must:
- live and work in Alberta
- not be a member of the Awards Selection Committee
Eligible programs
Eligible programs are facility-based and home-based child care programs licensed by the Government of Alberta including:
- day care
- preschool
- out-of-school care
- family day home educators
- group family child care
- innovative child care
Application
Eligible applicants
To nominate an individual, team or program, nominators must:
- download and fill out the Nomination Form, Nomination Statement, and Letter of Support templates
- submit the nomination package to [email protected]
Nominations will be open from July 1, 2024 to August 30, 2024. For more details on the nomination process, please review the Nomination Guidelines package.
Award recipients
Past nominees
In 2022, the Alberta government received 60 nominations from across the province. Congratulations to all of the nominees.
Past award recipients
The names of past award recipients are listed below.
Contact
Connect with the program if you have questions about the Minister’s Awards of Excellence in Child Development:
Email: [email protected]