Excerpt
Recent data shows that most early childhood educators in the province have strong job satisfaction and a high sense of accomplishment, however, sector improvements in staffing and training are still needed according to an advocacy organization.
The findings come after a Probe Research poll was conducted for the Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA), a non-profit and membership-funded organization that advocates for child care and early childhood education.
Jodie Kehl, MCCA executive director, said the poll focused on the state of child care in the province and revealed “really positive outcomes,” along with gaps that need to be addressed.
“The primary gap that is that we’re still seeing significant staffing shortages,” Kehl said.
More than one-third of child care centre directors often operate with a conditional licence due to staff shortages, according to the poll, and 22 per cent of directors sometimes close spaces due to the shortages.
“Families are frustrated they can’t find 10 hours of space right now, so we know we need more spaces, but then when current spaces are staying closed because of staff shortages, that really compounds that for families as well,” Kehl said.
More than 800 MCCA members — including child care staff, centre directors and family child care providers — participated in the online survey conducted over two weeks in February 2025.
Kehl said some of the recruitment and retention issues among early childhood educators can be addressed by further increases to child care facility operating grants.
However, she said the provincial government’s implementation of a retroactive increased wage grid in May had a positive impact. At the time, Tracy Schmidt, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning, said that it was the largest wage increase for the sector in the province’s history.
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