August 18, 2022
Manitoba Government Allocates $1 Million to Support Child-Care Services for Newcomer Families
The Manitoba government is partnering with The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce to provide more than $1 million for a child-care pilot project that will help newcomers overcome the barrier of finding reliable child care and keeping employment through the Newcomer Employment Hub, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko announced today.
“Our government is committed to ensuring all Manitoba families have access to quality, inclusive child care that is conveniently located,” said Ewasko. “Child-care access remains a barrier to finding and keeping employment. This initiative will remove that barrier, allowing more newcomers to find meaningful employment and enter Manitoba’s labour market.”
The Newcomer Employment Hub is an innovative online job tool offered by The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce that creates quality job matches between newcomer jobseekers and Manitoba employers. The project, which launched earlier this summer, is part of the chamber’s commitment to opportunity, diversity and equity. The online platform uses advanced technology to create quality, long-lasting connections between employers and newcomer jobseekers, with the support of newcomer service agencies.
“The chamber is proud to collaborate with the Manitoba government on this innovative child-care partnership with our Newcomer Employment Hub,” said Loren Remillard, president and CEO of The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. “Local businesses are facing talent shortages while newcomers are in search of equitable economic opportunity. Our Newcomer Employment Hub is an innovative solution addressing these needs by connecting, via artificial intelligence, employers with newcomers who now call Winnipeg home. Today’s announcement will help break down a significant barrier to that connection.”
The new spaces will be dedicated for newcomers who are taking part in the Newcomer Employment Hub program. By April 2023, the entirety of the $1-million investment will support 68 fully subsidized licensed child-care spaces for these newcomer families, the minister noted.
Ongoing planning for future expansions may include capital improvements and renovations to support additional child-care spaces, which will be determined following a review of the outcomes of the pilot project, Ewasko added.
In addition to this provincially funded project, the Manitoba government has made other recent investments in child-care including:
- Dugald Daycare Inc., a new stand-alone child-care facility adjacent to Dugald School; and
- $600,000 in capital funding for the child-care expansion project at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Brandon’s Y Downtown Early Learning Centre.
For more information about early learning and child-care development supports and child-care services in Manitoba, visit https://gov.mb.ca/education/childcare/.
To learn more about the Newcomer Employment Hub, visit https://winnipeg-chamber.com/neh.
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