New supports for families and early childhood educators in Manitoba help strengthen the Canada-wide early learning and child care system

WINNIPEG, MB, June 27, 2022 /CNW/ - Supporting the valuable work of the early childhood workforce is key to the success of a high-quality child care system, especially as the number of spaces expands across the country. That is why the governments of Canada and Manitoba are working together to increase the number of licensed child care spaces available in the province and investing in early childhood educators who do important work every day to nurture our children.

Today, Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, joined Wayne Ewasko, Manitoba's Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning, to announce funding for more than 815 new licensed expansion child care spaces that have been created across Manitoba for children aged 6 and under, and the creation of a wage grid that will support wage equity for early childhood educators in funded child care facilities, effective July 1, 2022. The new wage grid will allow non-profit child care boards to develop fair, consistent and competitive wage scales across the province, and will help the early learning and child care sector retain qualified, experienced employees and boost recruitment efforts.

As part of the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the Government of Canada is investing $1.2 billion over five years to help improve regulated early learning and child care.

Building a Canada-wide early learning and child care system that works for families and children is a key part of the plan to make life more affordable while creating good jobs and growing the economy. As part of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system, the Government of Canada aims to create approximately 250,000 new child care spaces across the country by March 2026 to give families affordable child care options, no matter where they live.

A Canada-wide early learning and child care system is becoming a reality, with nearly all of Canada's provinces and territories, including Manitoba, seeing reductions in child care fees, and by the end of 2022, average fees for regulated early learning and child care spaces will be cut in half across the country. This target applies everywhere outside of Quebec, which already has an affordable, well-established system.

With provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners, the Government of Canada will continue to work to ensure that early childhood educators are at the heart of the system, by valuing their work and providing them with the training and development opportunities needed to support their growth and the growth of a quality system of child care.

Quotes

"Early childhood educators are at the very heart of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Today's announcement with Manitoba is a meaningful step in valuing their essential work and ensuring they have the support they need to continue caring for our children every day, especially as we continue to expand our national child care system to meet the needs of families across the country."
– Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

"Our government recognizes that a well-compensated workforce is essential to stabilize and strengthen the early learning and child-care sector and is a critical step in addressing labour market shortages. This investment will support the dedicated staff who provide high-quality care and early learning opportunities that promote positive early child development outcomes, setting the stage for the lifelong success for young Manitobans."
– Wayne Ewasko, Manitoba's Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning

Quick Facts

• A total of $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 aged 6 and under, including 68 infant spaces, 549 preschool spaces and 198 nursery-age spaces. Manitoba is investing $4.8 million in new, ongoing operating grants that will fund 2,294 school-age child-care spaces for children aged 7 to 12.
• A total of $34.7 million is being allocated from the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to support the implementation of the new wage grid. Manitoba is investing an additional $2.3 million to ensure staff working in school-age child care programs are also fairly and consistently compensated.
• The Government of Canada made a transformative investment of more than $27 billion over 5 years to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system in partnership with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners; this includes a federal investment of more than $1.2 billion for Manitoba from 2021–2022 to 2025–2026, in addition to nearly $98 million over 4 years for the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
• The Government of Canada provided $420 million in 2021–2022 for provinces and territories to attract and retain early childhood educators through initiatives such as grants and bursaries for students studying early childhood education. This includes a one-time investment of about $19.2 million in 2021–22 to support Manitoba's early childhood workforce.
• In response to requests from provinces and territories, and to support the implementation of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system, Budget 2022 proposes to provide $625 million over 4 years, beginning in 2023–2024, for an Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund. This funding will enable provinces and territories to make additional child care investments, including building new facilities.
• Over 95 per cent of child care workers are women, many of whom are making low wages, with a median wage of $19.20 per hour.
• Investments in child care will benefit everyone across Canada. Studies show that for every dollar invested in early childhood education, the broader economy receives between $1.50 and $2.80 in return.

Associated Links

Toward $10-a-Day: Early Learning and Child Care
$10 a day child care for families in Manitoba
Canada–Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement – 2021 to 2026

Follow us on Twitter

SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

For media enquiries, please contact: Mohammad Hussain, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]