Construction is underway on a new early learning and child-care facility connected to École Sainte-Agathe that will create 32 additional child-care spaces for the francophone communities of Ste. Agathe and Aubigny. This announcement was made by Premier Greg Selinger.
“The growth of the population of Ste. Agathe has increased demand for child-care services in and around this community,” said Selinger. “These new spaces will address this growing need and ensure families have a place for their children to play, learn and grow in a francophone setting.”
The new facility, which will add approximately 5,000 square feet to École Sainte-Agathe, is the result of a partnership between the federal and provincial governments and the community of Ste. Agathe.
The Manitoba government invested $500,000 towards the construction, with the federal government contributing $750,000 as part of the Canada-Manitoba Agreement on Minority Language Education and Second Official Language Instruction.
“Our government received a strong mandate from Canadians to protect, celebrate, and strengthen our linguistic duality throughout the country,” said the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. “A project like the construction of a French language daycare centre in Sainte-Agathe demonstrates our support for the development of official-language minority communities. By offering families a francophone childcare environment, this project will promote learning in French and the recruitment of French-speaking students at the École Sainte-Agathe.”
The community of Ste. Agathe has been working toward the construction of the facility for two years and also made a significant financial contribution in support of the project with the help of individual donors, families, local businesses and community organizations. The Rural Municipality of Ritchot is supporting the project by committing to build an access road for the facility.
“The development of this new early learning and child-care facility connected to École Sainte-Agathe is an example of community engagement and spirit at its finest,” said Selinger. “With support from the governments of Canada, Manitoba and the Municipality of Ritchot, parents in this community will have increased access to affordable, high-quality child care.”
An on-site daycare currently provides services for 15 school-aged children before and after school and 15 nursery-school children during school hours. The new facility will create eight infant and 24 full-day preschool spaces in addition to the current 15 school age/nursery school spaces for a total of 32 additional spaces.
Construction on the new facility is expected to be completed by the end of September with a first intake planned for January 2013.
