July 26, 2023
Canada, Manitoba Governments Create 98 New Child-Care Spaces with $4-Million Investment
ALTONA—The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing $4 million to create 98 new child-care spaces in Altona, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson and Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko announced here today.
“Our government is taking concrete action to provide affordable, accessible child care that meets the needs of all Manitobans, including in rural communities,” said Stefanson. “Affordable, accessible child care helps families make ends meet and makes our communities stronger.”
“Building on our recent historic announcement of $10-a-day child care for regular hours of funded and licensed child care, our government continues to strengthen and grow the early learning and child-care system by investing in capital projects to create more affordable, accessible child-care spaces,” said Ewasko. “We will continue to support initiatives to build capacity in the child-care system to ensure Manitoba families have access to quality child care in their communities.”
Support for the project is being provided through the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
The $4.1-million investment will support an expansion project in the Town of Altona for the Kiddie Sunshine Centre to create 98 new child-care spaces in the community including 20 infant spaces, 48 preschool spaces and 30 school-aged spaces. The new stand-alone child-care centre will be built on land leased from Border Land School Division and is expected to open in the fall of 2024.
“Kiddie Sunshine Centre is incredibly proud of the long-standing history we have of providing early childhood education in Altona,” said Nicole Friesen, vice-chair, Kiddie Sunshine Centre. “We are very excited to have such strong support for this project and to continue this journey to expand our services even further in our community.”
The new child-care spaces being developed with this investment for Kiddie Sunshine Centre’s child-care expansion project are part of the Manitoba government’s commitment to create 23,000 new, regulated not-for-profit child-care spaces for children under age seven across the province by 2026.
In addition, another $6 million will be allocated to continue the successful Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Tuition Reimbursement initiative until 2026. The initiative is funded under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The ECE Tuition Reimbursement initiative provides eligible applicants attending recognized post-secondary ECE programs with a reimbursement of up to $5,000 per academic year. The Manitoba government has already provided more than $2.7 million in tuition reimbursement to 631 Manitobans in ECE training.
For more information about the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, visit www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/manitoba-canada-wide-2021.html.
For more information about early learning and child care in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/childcare.
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