Families in the Steinbach and La Broquerie areas have greater access to some of the best and most affordable child care in Canada with the opening of a new child-care centre and the expansion of two others. This announcement was made by Premier Greg Selinger.
“These new spaces mean more parents will have access to the child care they need to be able to work and support their families and thrive in their communities,” the premier said. “We are funding more high-quality, licensed and reliable child-care options than ever before in Manitoba because it’s a priority for families.”
The province’s recent investment of more than $1 million in the Steinbach and La Broquerie areas’ child-care centres helped create 158 new spaces for local families, Selinger said.
The new spaces include:
• Kinder Korner Early Learning Centre in Clearspring Middle School in Steinbach – a new, satellite site of the existing Kinder Korner Early Learning Centre, at 307 Hanover St. At the school, 67 new spaces were created (12 infant, 40 preschool and 15 school age) and all are receiving annual operating grant funding of more than $290,000.
• Happy Feet Early Learning Centre at 466 Reimer Ave. E. in Steinbach – a relocation and expansion project. The project created 44 new spaces (12 infant and 32 preschool), all of which receive annual funding of more than $239,000. Including the expanded spaces, Happy Feet now has 76 child-care spaces, all of which are fully funded. The new construction was approved for up to $316,000 in provincial support.
• Treasure Keepers Children’s Centre in La Broquerie – a licensed child-care facility that has 40 spaces (seven infant, 18 preschool and 15 school-age spaces). Arborgate Treasure Keepers Children’s Centre is a new satellite location at Arborgate School in La Broquerie and has 47 additional funded spaces (eight infant, 24 preschool and 15 school-age spaces) with about $190,000 in annual support.
The provincial government has more than doubled annual funding for child care to $143 million from $70 million in the past 10 years, Selinger said.
Family Choices, the province’s five-year early learning and child-care initiative, will allocate funding for 6,500 quality child care spaces by 2013, including funding for 900 spaces this year alone, the premier said. Since 2008, as part of the initiative, $37 million has also been invested in 123 capital projects across the province, including 60 new child-care centres.
The premier also noted the province is building on its commitment to increase wages and introduce a provincewide pension plan for child-care workers by beginning consultations on standardized wages. For parents, this means child-care centres can hire and retain the very best early learning and child-care professionals, he said.
More information about Family Choices, Manitoba’s strategy to further improve child care, is available at www.gov.mb.ca/fs/childcare.
