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Manitoba is moving too slowly to meet the demand for child-care spaces, advocates say, after an announcement from the province this week showed it is less than a quarter of the way to meeting its goal for 2026.
"Manitoba's pace of expansion is too slow to meet the demand, and the current approach is not working," Molly McCracken, chair of the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba, said at a news conference at the legislature building in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
"Parents are stuck on waitlists for years and years," said McCracken, who said her own school-age children have been on a waitlist for child care at their school for two years.
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McCracken said the coalition is calling on the province to develop a funding plan to staff the thousands more spaces needed to meet its 2026. The province must also ensure next year's budget has enough money to meet its child-care commitments, she said.
Advocates would also like to see school divisions have a greater role in creating child care spaces, she said.
Without expanded child-care access, McCracken said parents like her will be left "exhausted" as they wait for spaces.