News - Child Care

Manitoba will take another step forward in expanding high-quality, affordable child care with new funding to child-care centres for 900 spaces, new capital and operational funding for child-care centres and homes, and improved subsidies for those most in need.

Manitoba has one of the best child-care systems in the country, according to the first Early Childhood Education Index issued by the Margaret & Wallace McCain Family Foundation, and the province continues to improve and offer more high-quality licensed care for children.

Five months after Canada’s first online child-care registry was fully implemented across the province, more than 1,000 children have already been placed with the help of this convenient tool.

Canada’s first province-wide online child-care registry was launched today by Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh and Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau.

Child-care workers in Manitoba will be eligible for a pension plan starting Dec. 1, as part of a Workforce Stability Strategy, Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh announced.

Premier Greg Selinger applauded plans today to expand the Happy Feet Early Learning Centre, saying the expansion will ensure children in this Eastman community have a safe, welcoming, nurturing environment in which to learn, grow and play.

As of today, Manitoba is the first province in Canada to introduce comprehensive safety plans and codes of conduct for its 1,105 licensed child-care facilities, Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh announced.

The province is investing up to $19 million more in Budget 2010 for new child-care centres, hundreds more spaces, the phasing in of a centralized online wait list and a pension plan for a stronger workforce, Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh and Education Minister Nancy Allan announced.

The province has committed $11.4 million in new funding to support new child-care sites, revitalize centres, create more spaces, hire more workers, enhance child safety and develop a curriculum framework, Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced.