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OAKVILLE—The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing more than $1 million to support a community-based capital project to create 40 new child-care spaces at a new centre in Oakville, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko announced here today.
“Our government is committed to creating high-quality child-care spaces for Manitobans that have limited access to child care, such as Indigenous communities, newcomers and low-income families,” said Ewasko. “I am pleased that our government’s investment will help to develop the first child-care centre in the town of Oakville, a rural community in central Manitoba that currently has the lowest number of licensed child-care spaces in the province.”
The new spaces are made possible through funding under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which provides the province with approximately $1.2 billion over five years to improve access to affordable, high-quality, flexible and inclusive early learning and child-care programs for all children, regardless of where they live.
“Every child deserves the best start in life,” federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said. “This new child-care centre in Oakville will help grow our Canada-wide early learning and child-care system, allowing more children and families from Manitoba to access high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care.”
A total of $1.02 million is being invested in the Oakville Early Learning Centre Inc. to develop the first child-care centre in the town of Oakville in the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. The centre is partnering with Oakville Community Club Inc. to develop a community hall building that will include a child-care centre.
“We are so thankful to the federal and provincial governments for providing this funding, bringing us to the total we need to start construction this spring,” said Eric DeLong, president, Oakville Community Club. “This funding will allow us to provide infrastructure for a crucial service that will enable many local families to prosper. We’re all extremely excited to make this project a reality.”
The project is targeted to create 40 new child-care spaces (eight infant spaces and 32 pre-school spaces), which will help accommodate the needs of newcomer families and families requiring part-time and/or casual child care. The Oakville Early Learning Centre is scheduled to open in 2023, the minister noted.