April 18, 2007
Children And Families To Benefit From Groundbreaking Revitalization Of 167 Child-Care Centres: Mackintosh
– – –Capital Contribution Grants, New Funded Spaces Allotted, More to Come
The allocation of $5.2 million in revitalization grants for 167 child-care centres and nursery schools, and the allocation of 1,250 newly-funded spaces was announced today by Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh.
“This expansion is so important for enhancing the quality and availability of child care,” said Mackintosh. “On top of more than doubling our investment in child care since 1999, families will have greater choices and opportunities to strengthen both the family and the economy.”
This historic funding includes a contribution toward the construction or expansion of 17 large projects and revitalization of 55 located in surplus space in schools. Capital grants for child care were first announced for Manitoba a year and a half ago.
“This means more modern facilities, safer environments for our children, enhanced accessibility for children with disabilities as well as more natural light and green spaces,” said Mackintosh.
The funds were allocated to 91 centres in Winnipeg and 76 centres in rural and northern Manitoba, reflecting the distribution of Manitoba’s population. Funding is limited to a maximum investment of $400,000 plus up to $10,000 for planning costs with projects over $20,000 requiring cost-matching contributors. Centres and nursery schools must have applied for funding to be eligible.
“Red River College has been a strong partner for child care and I am pleased to announce total capital funding of $104,500 for the college’s Early Childhood Centre, the site of today’s announcement,” said Mackintosh. “This funding will help the campus facility to upgrade its physical space and expand for eight more infants under two years of age.”
“Hand-in-hand with last week’s funding announcement by Minister Mackintosh to continue all of the early childhood education training initiatives in support of our early childhood educator workforce, this funding to improve physical environments for children and for more spaces will make a significant difference in the quality of programming and in accessibility for parents,” said Red River College community services chair Joan Kunderman.
The province also announced the funding allocations for 750 spaces in respect to 2006 and 500 spaces for 2007. The 2006 dollars are already being received by centres.
Mackintosh also said the demonstrated need for capital grants as well as more spaces paves the way for their inclusion in the next multi-year child-care plan, expected to be finalized soon.
Increased child-care funding, Rewarding Work, and the four-pillared housing strategy, including HOMEWorks! announced this week, are key elements of Budget 2007’s framework for greater opportunities for lower-income Manitobans.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
Capital Funding Allocations And Child-Care Spaces By Region - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/ChildCareSpaces.FH.doc