May 1, 2019
Governments Mark Grand Opening of New Child-care Centre in Rivers, Serving Local Children and Families
The governments of Canada and Manitoba celebrated an important milestone for young families at the grand opening of the new Riverdale Community Daycare in Rivers, Manitoba Families Minister Heather Stefanson and Federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced today.
“This new centre is warm and welcoming, a place where young children can learn and grow together,” said Stefanson. “We know that accessible, high-quality child care is a priority for Manitoba families. Our government is proud to support strategic investments like this one, where we can make a real difference for children and families for years to come.”
The Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement provided a capital grant of up to $900,000 for this project and will also provide an annual operating grant of more than $191,000.
“We are committed to helping families access quality early learning and child care so that more children and parents have the support they need,” said Duclos. “I am pleased that the Government of Canada and the government of Manitoba are working together to give more children in Manitoba access to quality learning and child care so they can have the best start in life and have a fair chance to succeed.”
Riverdale Community Daycare is located in three renovated classrooms in Rivers Collegiate, in an area of approximately 2,100 square feet. It has 32 spaces including eight infant and 24 preschool.
“Riverdale Early Learning Centre’s board of directors are absolutely ecstatic that our early learning centre has finally opened its doors,” said Tanya Beaulé, outgoing chairperson, Riverdale Early Learning Centre. “We have been working diligently to bring a licensed child-care centre to our community since 2013 and this would not have been possible without the funding provided by the provincial and federal governments. Several of our board members, including myself, have children who now attend the centre and the children absolutely love it. We have a great team of staff who strive to offer a high level of quality early learning and we are so lucky that we can now utilize this essential service right in our community.”
This is the first full-time child-care centre to be opened in Rivers. The Rivers and Area Community Foundation has provided valuable development support throughout the project.
Support for this project was initially announced in April 2018 as part of a commitment to create 780 new child-care spaces through the ELCC agreement. These projects were intended to better support areas where access to affordable child care has been a challenge and to create community hubs by co-locating within schools.
In addition, the ministers noted the agreement will fund training resources and other professional development opportunities for early childhood educators. As part of Manitoba’s commitment to strengthen the licensed child-care system – particularly in rural and northern communities facing unique challenges to recruit trained staff – a new competency based assessment program is being piloted. Individuals with previous child-care experience or related education will work with a rural advisor to demonstrate their skills and knowledge while continuing to work in licensed child-care centres. When participants have successfully completed the program, they can become classified as an Early Childhood Educator II.
Funding provided through the ELCC agreement was also used to support the Manitoba Child Care Association to develop a new online resource for board members of child-care centres, focused on governance, accountability and other important issues. Funding is available to help subsidize the cost of participating for association members. For more information, visit www.mccahouse.org.
The Manitoba government has proclaimed April 29 to May 3 as the Week of the Early Childhood Educator, creating an opportunity to acknowledge their importance to children, families and communities. For more information about early learning and child care in Manitoba, visit www.gov.mb.ca/fs/childcare.
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