Early childhood educator in Canada: your Express Entry path, step by step

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Before a draw can invite you, you need a profile in the Express Entry pool. Early childhood educators usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; this one is TEER 2.
• Canadian Experience Class. For skilled work experience already gained in Canada, also TEER 0 to 3.

The education draws

Education draws rank only people with recent experience in a listed education job. The panel above shows the latest one. You need at least 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) in this occupation within the last 3 years. The months do not have to be in a row, and the work must match the NOC description of the job.

Getting certified, province by province

The NOC says licensing is required in Ontario and certification in British Columbia, and it is usually required in the other provinces and territories too.

• Ontario: practising early childhood education needs a certificate of registration from the College of Early Childhood Educators, and the title is protected for its members. If you studied outside Ontario, the College's individual assessment of educational qualifications is the first step.
• British Columbia: the ECE Registry must certify anyone working in licensed child care. Education from outside Canada goes through its equivalency assessment. Educators certified abroad with 2 years of independent practice may get a Five Year certificate without the usual 500 hours of Canadian work experience.
• Other provinces: Job Bank lists ECE regulators in Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

What early childhood educators earn

The panel above shows Job Bank's median hourly wage for this occupation across Canada; Job Bank also lists pay by province and region.