Keyano college is bringing back one of its child care programs as the demand for qualified workers remains high in the region.

Starting in September, the school will once again offer its Early Learning Child Care Diploma program after it was suspended in 2015 due to low enrolment.

Keyano says trained child care administrators and supervisors has been identified as an going need by community members and agencies.

“We listened carefully, and from that Keyano College is responding to the community’s needs. As such, we are extremely excited to reoffer this program with a new delivery model that will provide a more flexible learning opportunity for students,” said Fred Russell, Vice President Academic.

The need for qualified staff was highlighted in a 2018 study conducted by the Early Years Coalition.

It found, as of November 2017, there were 671 licensed child care spaces in Fort McMurray, however, only 351 of these were being used by families.

In an August 2018 interview, Coalition Member Janet Huffman told Mix News the reason comes down to lack of qualified staff.

“A couple of the centres said to us that they have rooms they could open but they don’t have enough staff to open them and we as childcare professionals want people who have an early learning and childcare background working in our centres with children.”

“Centres want to offer and have quality child care which means you have educated staff, that’s what we need.”

To help fill the need, intake for the two-year program will run every seven weeks.

Classes will be held on evenings and weekends at the Clearwater campus as well as online to accommodate those who are already working in the industry.