EXCERPTS:
The governments of Canada and Manitoba announced the allocation of $8.1 million to support new, ongoing operating grants that will fund more than 3,100 new early learning and child-care expansion spaces at 177 facilities across the province, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould and Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko announced today.
“The Manitoba government is committed to strengthening the full continuum of child-care services for Manitoba families,” said Ewasko. “Supporting these newly funded child-care spaces will improve families’ access to quality, affordable child care, while also supporting the province’s post-COVID economic recovery.”
As part of this commitment, the province is investing $4.8 million in new, ongoing operating grants that will fund 2,294 school-age child-care spaces for children aged seven to 12. This funding will increase financial stability for facilities that offer school-age programming and ensure low- and middle-income parents can access affordable, regulated care for their school-age children.
An additional $3.3 million is being allocated from the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to fund 815 child-care spaces for infants and children under age seven. This includes 68 infant spaces, 549 preschool spaces and 198 nursery-age spaces. This bilateral agreement, announced in August 2021, provides Manitoba with $1.2 billion in federal funding over a five-year period to improve access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care.
“Every child deserves the best start in life,” said Gould. “The additional licensed child-care spaces allow more children and families in Manitoba to access high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care, no matter where they live.”
These 3,109 child-care spaces are currently in place and were created by facility-driven expansion to meet community and family needs. By providing funding for these spaces, the governments of Canada and Manitoba are helping ensure families have increased access to affordable early learning and child-care programming, which is essential to supporting parents to be employed or complete their education or training, contributing to the growth of our provincial economy.
“These investments provide operating grant funding to all early learning and child-care facilities with spaces on the current waitlist,” said Ewasko. “This funding will support and build the capacity of existing child-care facilities across Manitoba to provide affordable, high-quality programming while working toward our goal to create 23,000 new and newly funded full-time regulated care spaces by 2026.”