Provincial Media Release | The Manitoba government took part in the official opening of the École Swan River South School Daycare, as part of a recently launched five-year plan to create more high-quality child-care spaces for families across the province, Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross said today.
“More families in the area now have access to some of the best, most affordable child care in Canada as we move ahead with our new strategy, Family Choices 2014,” said Minister Irvin-Ross. “In the next phase of our plan, we are committing up to $2.8 million each year to help non-profit child-care organizations build or expand community-based centres.”
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Earlier this year, the Manitoba government announced an additional $25 million would be dedicated to building and expanding 20 school-based early learning and child-care centres.
“This is an exciting day for families in Swan River who need good-quality child care where they can be assured their children are well cared for while they are at work or upgrading their skills,” said Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn, who attended the opening of the daycare today on behalf of Minister Irvin-Ross.
“With the completion of construction at the new École Swan River School South Daycare, parents now have more child-care options.”
The Manitoba government’s investment of $488,000 supported classroom renovations resulting in 16 new pre-school and four infant spaces, with additional room in the school for 15 school-age children, with the entire project creating a total of 35 new spaces for local families. The centre also receives an annual operating grant of more than $125,000 from Manitoba Family Services.
The overall budget for child care in Manitoba is more than $152 million, which reflects growth of more than 184 per cent since 1999, the minister said. There are more than 660 licensed centres across Manitoba with almost half located in schools. As well, there are more than 400 licensed family
child-care homes in the province.
Manitoba maintains the second-lowest regulated child-care fees in Canada, the minister added.
Provincial legislation now requires child-care centres be included in schools whenever a new school is built or is undergoing major renovations.
The Manitoba government’s new five-year plan to create more high-quality child care for families across the province includes:
* investing in more than 5,000 new and newly funded spaces;
* providing an additional $25 million to continue building and expanding at least 20 early learning and child-care centres in schools;
* supporting higher wages for early childhood educators through regular operating grant increases to centres including a two per cent operating grant increase for wages starting in January 2015;
* developing a special, new wage-enhancement grant in specific support of long-term early childhood educators working in centres;
* increasing supports for licensed, home-based child-care providers;
* improving the online registry and child-care website to make them more parent friendly; and
* establishing a commission on early learning and child care to look at the future of child care in Manitoba and ways to enhance the system to better meet the needs of families and to guide future planning.