• N.W.T. government not actually sure they haven’t overpaid childcare providers

  This article is new today!

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-11-02 12:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Education, Social Services, Affordability, Finance, Governance]

  An audit released in October revealed that the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Education, Culture and Employment distributed millions in early learning and child care funding without verifying staff hours, parent fee invoices, or attendance numbers. Operating with an annual budget of roughly $34 million—with approximately 80 per cent (over $27 million) allocated to early childcare funding—the department relied entirely on facility attestations and assumed 100 per cent enrollment for daycares opened after April 1, 2023. Consequently, the government cannot confirm if it overpaid providers or successfully met its commitment to an average daily $10 parent fee. Beginning November 1, the department is requiring licensed childcare facilities to submit receipts, attendance records, closure days, and verifiable documentation for staff wages and expenditures covering the past two years.

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• N.W.T. government unsure if it overpaid child-care providers

  This article is new today!

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-11-02 12:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Education, Social Services, Affordability, Governance]

  An audit released in October by the Office of the Auditor General revealed that the Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Education disbursed millions in child-care funding over two years without verifying attendance records, staff hours, or parent fee invoices. Operating on an approximate $34 million annual departmental budget where roughly 80 percent goes to early learning and child care, the department relied entirely on facility attestations and assumptions of 100 percent attendance for daycares opened after April 1, 2023. Consequently, the territorial government remains unsure if it overpaid providers or successfully achieved its $10-a-day parent fee reduction target. In response, the Department of Education instituted a new requirement effective November 1, mandating that licensed child-care facilities submit two years of historical receipts, attendance figures, closure days, and verifiable documentation for wages and operating expenditures.

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