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The governments of Canada and Manitoba are increasing the availability and accessibility of child care over the next three years to expand child-care spaces in public schools and post-secondary institutions in Manitoba, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko and federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould announced today.
“Manitoba continues to make accessible, affordable, high-quality child care for families a priority,” said Ewasko. “With these additional spaces, families who have older children attending a local school or who are currently enrolled in training to enter the workforce at one of our post-secondary institutions will have more options to support their child-care needs.”
A new investment of $180 million will add more than 3,700 new licensed and funded infant, pre-school and school-age spaces through child-care space expansion projects at public schools and post-secondary institutions.
With funding provided under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, $132 million will be allocated across 36 public schools to create more than 2,400 spaces for children under seven. Another $45 million will be provided to support more than 680 new child-care space expansion projects for children under seven across six post-secondary institutions.
“We know that child care is a necessity for Canadian families. That is why Canada and Manitoba are making sure that families in Manitoba have better access to early learning and child care, no matter where they live., said federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould. Together with our provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners, Canada is committed to achieving our shared goal of creating 250,000 new child care spaces across the country by March 2026.”
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“We all know that having child care available is the first step to going back to school, gaining employment, or even gaining volunteer experience in the community,” said Neil Cooke, president and CEO, Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology . Today’s announcement supports students, families, schools, post-secondary communities, and future employers.”
Manitoba’s action plan under the agreement provides capital funding for the development and expansion of child-care centres to increase access to licensed child care. Under the agreement, Manitoba is targeting the development of 23,000 new full-time child-care spaces by March 31, 2026.